Clover Park School District Bringing Six New Schools To Joint Base Lewis-McChord

In September, two new elementary schools will open on Joint Base lewis-McChord.

Construction on two other schools began this summer. Two more schools will begin construction next year.

With all of that new construction that's funded mostly with federal money, the Clover Park School District says, comes an influx of economic activity for local business.

Construction began on Carter Lake Elementary and Hillside Elementary Schools in July 2012, and both schools will open Sept. 3 for the upcoming school year.

Clarkmoor Elementary and Greenwood Elementary broke ground last month, which will make the two buildings operational in time for the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. Additionally, Beachwood Elementary and Evergreen Elementary are scheduled for completion in time for the beginning of the 2015-16 school year.

The school district says the construction projects will inject nearly $150 million into the economy over a three-year period. The projects requires the work of an array of local services and companies, including architects, engineers, ironworkers, carpenters, electricians, masons, drywall workers, plumbers, roofers, metal workers, painters and landscapers.

More than 80 companies worked on the Carter Lake and Hillside Elementary School projects. Many of these companies are based in Pierce County, the school district says.

Funding for the new schools comes from the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment and Washington state school construction funds. OEA funding is a result of the Military Child Education Initiative, which raised awareness of failing school infrastructures on military bases across the United States.

Carter Lake and Hillside Elementary Schools will be the first two new schools in the nation to be completed using OEA money.

 “We are very proud to be the first to complete our school construction projects,” said CPSD’s superintendent Debbie LeBeau. “We set very ambitious timelines for these projects, knowing that our military students will benefit from these state-of -the-art facilities.”

Here some of the significant contracts to date:

• Korsmo Construction (structural): $7.4 million
• Skanska (structural): $6.5 million
• Betchart Mechanical: $6.5 million
• SARE Electric: $6.4 million
• BCRA: $4.6 millon
• Integrus Architecture: $4.3 million
• Sessler: $4 million
• Active Construction: $3.1 million

The school district is scheduled to receive its official occupancy permit for Carter Lake and Hillside Elementary Schools on Aug. 22.

In the meantime, families new to Carter Lake and Hillside Elementary Schools can enroll new students beginning Wednesday, Aug. 7 at Evergreen Elementary School, 9010 Blaine Ave, on JBLM Main. New student enrollments will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Evergreen Elementary School cafeteria daily through Aug. 22.

For more information, please call Carter Lake Elementary at 253-583-5210 or Hillside Elementary at 253-583-5280.