Northwood Elementary School

Opened Fall 2019

Financed by 2015 Bond Funds
Architect: Studio Meng Strazzara
General Contractor: CE&C, Inc.
Project Manager: Larry Vandeberg 

Thank you, voters. Because of your support, PSD completed the Northwood Elementary replacement, a $26.2 million project, that increased them building capacity to 730 students. The 83,000 sq. ft. replacement school consists of:

• 30 classrooms
• 15 project rooms
• two (2) special education classrooms
• two (2) music rooms
• a library
• a gymnasium/commons/lunchroom area
• administration spaces
• improved play areas
• parent drop-off and parking

The new school was constructed to the northeast of the original school. It was built according to Washington State's green building standard for high performance buildings. This environmentally friendly design includes energy efficiency, daylighting, water conservation, stormwater treatment and sustainable materials.

Building History

The original Northwood Elementary School opened in 1974 and was located on North Hill, west of Meridian Avenue North and just north of 24th Street East. This school was one of seven (7) school projects constructed in Washington under the Washington School Building Systems Program (WSBSP), Program One. In this program, bidders were invited to design structural, roofing, mechanical, space division, ceiling lighting, carpet, casework and fire protection systems. The design of each of the seven (7) schools was finalized in the local districts using the same low bid components for each project. Non-system items such as site work, utilities, foundations, slabs, exterior walls, finish hardware, specialties and plumbing required to complete each project were added and bid on an individual basis. 

The project architect for Northwood Elementary School was Brudevold & Putnam Architects of Puyallup, Washington, and the general contractor was William. B. Johnson of Sumner, Washington. In 1977, an addition was made at Northwood that added more classroom spaces.

The voter approved 2015 bond enabled the district to replace Northwood Elementary. The Northwood Elementary replacement school was a $38 million-dollar project that includes approximately 82,000 square feet. The replacement building consists of 30 classrooms and 15 project rooms as well as two (2) special education classrooms, two (2) music rooms, a library, a gymnasium/commons/lunchroom area, administration spaces, improved play areas, parent drop-off and parking. It was constructed to the northeast of the original school building footprint. 

The new school was designed by Studio Meng Strazzara from Seattle, Washington, and constructed by CE&C Inc. from Tacoma, Washington. It was built according to Washington State’s green building standard for high performance buildings. This environmentally friendly design includes energy efficiency, daylighting, water conservation, stormwater treatment and sustainable materials. 

The school opened to students in September 2019 and will become eligible for state matching funds for modernization or new construction in lieu of modernization in the year 2049.

In 2022, Parcel B at Northwood, a 4.66-acre additional parcel, significantly encumbered by wetlands and wetland buffers, was sold to an adjacent property owner. The same parcel had been approved as surplus by the Board of Directors in 2017