BACK TO (new) SCHOOLS

The first day of school is always special. But the experience is magnified when it’s the first day for a new school.

“There’s a lot of excitement about building our own culture,” said Robert Broecker, principal at Orchard Elementary School in south Richland. “We are kind of in a blank space.”

Orchard is one of three new elementary schools opening in the Tri-Cities. Three more existing elementary schools also were rebuilt.

In addition, Delta High School in Pasco and Three Rivers HomeLink in Richland are moving into new buildings.

Most classes in Richland, Kennewick and Pasco are scheduled to start Tuesday .

In all, the new buildings equal a more than $123 million public investment in education.

The new facilities include the largest elementary school ever built in Richland and two more STEM-focused elementaries in Pasco.

Some feature new high-tech learning gadgets such as touch-screen smart tables and interactive 3-D computers for dissecting virtual frogs. And one school features a single straight hallway as long as a football field.

“It’s been exciting to see furniture you ordered come in,” said Valerie Aragon, Marie Curie’s new principal. “I feel like Goldilocks — it’s too big. It’s too little. Or it’s just right.”

Richland

One of the first orders of business for students at Richland’s newest school will be choosing a mascot.

Names starting with “O” are popular entries, including Owls, Otters and Ocelots. Other suggestions include Stags, Trees, Wolves, Badgers and Quail.

Though 605 students are enrolled, Orchard has room for 700 — the most of Richland’s 10 elementary schools, Broecker said.

Replacement schools for Lewis & Clark and Sacajawea elementaries also will open to students for the first time Tuesday, said district spokesman Steve Aagaard.

The identical schools will hold up to 630 students. Like Orchard, the schools are being paid for from a $98 million bond package passed in 2013.

The district calls Lewis & Clark, Sacajawea and Marcus Whitman Elementary the “three sisters” because of their identical design. And Aagaard said Marcus Whitman will look just like its sisters after it’s rebuilt and opens in 2016.

Lewis & Clark and Marcus Whitman’s old buildings are being demolished while the old Sacajawea building will play host to Marcus Whitman’s students this school year.

Also opening in Richland is the new HomeLink facility, which will serve up to 400 home school students in a modular buildings on the Jason Lee Elementary campus.

Pasco

Two new science, technology, engineering and math-focused elementary schools will open in Pasco this year as part of a $46.8 million bond passed by voters in 2013.

From the moment you head into Marie Curie STEM Elementary and Barbara McClintock STEM Elementary their science emphasis is center stage.

Curie’s entrance features an atomic symbol etched into the pavement outside and inlaid into the main hall.

McClintock has a large metal decahedron sculpture hanging above its main entrance.

“We felt it fit in very well with the idea of STEM education,” said McClintock Principal Jaime Morales. “It catches people’s eyes.”

Reminders of Curie’s namesake can be found all over the school’s east Pasco campus. Its mascot is the Elements — Curie discovered polonium and radium. And its main color a glowing radioactive green.

“Those are some of the special touches our construction company was able to do,” said Principal Valerie Aragon.

Curie will house students in grades third through sixth. It will share a playground with Whittier Elementary where kindergarten through second graders will attend.

And for the first time this year, sixth graders will not move on to middle school. It’s a move to help balance Pasco’s school population.

A hole sits in the wall near the entrance to Marie Curie. Students will fill it in October with various items and the time capsule will be opened in 10 years.

The east Pasco school has a library that will hold 11,000 books, along with e-books for its 802 students to check out. The building has 16 classrooms on the first floor and 18 upstairs.

Teachers will have access to a STEM library, where they can check out microscopes and various materials to use in class. The classrooms have heavy-duty tables that are flame- and stain-resistant.

Curie also has an after-school robotics program where students will solve problems using Lego robots. This year, they will work on the issue of too much trash in the world.

“It teaches engineering and collaboration,” said teacher Sarah Winaker. “It all involves STEM.”

McClintock is on about 8 acres on Road 60, next to a five-acre city park. The school is all on one story, and features a 102-yard-long hallway.

So far, 650 kindergarten- through sixth-grade students are enrolled in the school that can hold up to 726. The school was initially designed for K-2 students but west Pasco parents pushed to have it include all grades.

The school has 32 classrooms, each with an individual restroom. That’s a big time-saver over having the kids go down the hall, said first-grade teacher Amanda Russell. “When one has to go they all have to go,” she said.

The school’s media center features some of its most advanced technology. It has 15 zSpace lab computers, each with an interactive 3-D screen that will allow students to complete projects, such as dissecting a frog. Two students can use each computer at a time.

“They’ll be able to do that right here without physically harming a frog,” said Morales, the Pasco School District’s former technology director.

The media center also has five smart tables, which remind Morales of a high-tech version of an ‘80s tabletop video arcade game. The touch screens, which can be used by up to eight students, allow them to play games where they match cities to continents and other activities.

Morales visited STEM campuses in Kent and Tacoma to see what’s working there.

He hopes STEM education will help kids develop problem-solving skills they can use the rest of their lives. “How can we make it better, not only for us, but for the community and the global community, as well,” he said.

Curie and McClintock follow the 2014 opening of the Mid-Columbia’s first STEM elementary school, Rosalind Franklin, in Pasco.

Delta High

For the first time in two years, Delta High students will have a place to call their own after borrowing classroom space from Columbia Basin College in Richland.

About 400 students from Richland, Kennewick and Pasco have a new $13.7 million home at Broadmoor Boulevard and Sandifur Parkway.

The STEM-centric high school emerged from a convergence of private and public entities, including CBC, Washington State University Tri-Cities and the Washington State STEM Education Foundation.

About $15 million in state money provided by the Legislature and state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction paid for the bulk of the project. And Battelle, which operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has contributed about $4 million in cash and other help since the school started.

Delta’s new building has 11 classrooms, along with four science rooms, four technology rooms and a shop.

Kennewick

The rebuilt Eastgate Elementary School on 10th Avenue is the only new building in Kennewick this year.

It was built because the Kennewick School District received more matching state money than expected when voters approved a bond in 2009.

The 56,490-square-foot Eastgate’s floorplan will mirror Cottonwood Elementary.

It will have 26 classrooms, along with a gym, cafeteria, library, music room, computer lab and two reading rooms.

Reporter Ty Beaver contributed to this story.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "BACK TO (new) SCHOOLS."