Kennewick School District: Forward focused
The Kennewick School District is proud to serve our amazing students, families and community. While the past year has been extraordinarily challenging for everyone, we remain forward focused.
We are proud to be among the first districts in the state to reopen our school buildings for in-person learning and to return to some normalcy. Throughout the past year, we’ve also spent time planning for the future. Our school district — home to about 2,500 staff and more than 18,500 students — embarked on a strategic planning process aimed at helping us continue to improve and thrive.
We also celebrated the completion of two capital projects and made progress on several others, including rebuilding Kennewick High School. These projects will help ensure we’re prepared to meet future growth and demand.
Planning for the Future
Our strategic planning process kicked off last year and involved a broad cross-section of our staff, students, families and community members.
We received thousands of comments, thoughts and ideas about our district’s strengths and where we can continue to grow and improve. This feedback helped shape new strategic goals, annual objectives and performances indicators and targets.
These goals, targets and objectives describe the results we want to see for our students, staff, families, community and district, as well as the specific actions we’re taking to attain these results.
They reflect our shared vision: “All KSD Students are Known Well, Safe and Destined to Reach their Highest Potential.” To reach our vision, we have articulated specific strategic goals for our students, staff, families, community, and district:
▪ All students are safe, known and valued, engaged learners and ready for their future.
▪ All staff members are safe, respected and valued professionals.
▪ All families are key partners.
▪ All community members are important collaborators.
▪ The district is innovative, proactive and accountable.
We’re excited about this vision and direction, and we invite you to read more about our strategic plan at www.ksd.org/strategicplan.
Building for the Future
We’re also proud of our efforts to provide high-performance schools and facilities for our students, staff and families, and we’ve made progress this year on multiple projects that position us for the future.
We kicked off the 2020-21 school year by completing the replacement of Amistad Elementary, a multi-year project paid for with a state grant to reduce elementary class sizes and funds from a 2019 voter-approved bond. The new two-story school is now the largest elementary in our district with 42 classrooms.
In November, we wrapped up a 16,000-square-foot addition to Tri-Tech Skills Center, creating more program space and improving security. The project was paid for with money from the state’s 2017-19 Capital Budget.
Currently, crews are hard at work at Kamiakin and Southridge high schools, where classroom additions and athletic facility improvements are underway. Both projects are part of the 2019 bond and are scheduled to wrap up this summer.
Also set to finish this summer is the signature project of our 2019 bond: the new two-story Kennewick High School. The new school will include a science wing, a dining commons, a courtyard and other features, and it will connect to the existing Lion’s Den gym and a remodeled auditorium. The facility will replace the existing Kennewick High School, which opened in 1951.
More bond projects are planned in the next several years, including replacing Ridge View Elementary.
We invite you to track the progress of all our capital projects at https://www.ksd.org/District/Departments/Capital-Projects.
Thank You, Community
Our Kennewick community has always been there for us, and that was especially true this past year. We appreciate the support, and we look forward to continued partnership, growth and success.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 12:42 AM with the headline "Kennewick School District: Forward focused."