TULALIP Launched in the 1990s as Project Salmon and aimed at preserving and enriching the history and culture of the Tulalip Tribes, the appropriately named Heritage High School now has a permanent home.
The Marysville School District opened the doors to that new home for 86 Native American students March 17. Heritage is the second building to become operational on the districts so-called options campus off 27th Avenue NE on the Tulalip Reservation.
Across the parking lot, the Arts and Technology High School saw its first day of classes Dec. 10. Like the A and T School and what will be the four buildings making up the options campus, the new Heritage School consists of modular components formed into a permanent structure.
Overall, the buildings design consists of eight classrooms situated around a central hub.
There hasnt been one bug, Heritage Principal Martha Fulton said after more than a week of classes in her new surroundings.
Heritage and the A and T school represent two of the districts small learning communities, high school programs focused on a specific theme. In the case of the Heritage school, that theme is, just as when the program started as the Salmon Project, the history and traditions of the Tulalip Tribes. Fulton said the theme threads its way through as many classes as possible.
One major project students currently have underway is the carving of a story pole. According to Fulton, story poles are similar to totem poles except that, as the name suggests, the poles tell a story. Fulton added students garnered some ideas for the pole during a recent visit to native schools in Canada. Ultimately, Fulton wants the Heritage curriculum to be project based.
Capital projects director for the school district, John Bingham likes to describe the new schools of the options campus as deluxe modulars. For example, he asked visitors to note there is no drumming sound or echo of footsteps in the Heritage School, a common experience in most modular buildings.
In the past, Bingham has said the district decided to use modular components for the options campus largely for financial reasons. The total project cost is an estimated $24 million, but would have been much higher had officials followed a more traditional construction route. Last week, Bingham added because they technically are portables, the buildings do not count against the district in terms of state construction funding. The consideration is an important one as the district has other large-scale projects underway, including a new high school.
Moving away from finances, Bingham said the modular design gave the district some other advantages as well. For example, contractors were able to begin grading and earthwork while the buildings themselves already were under construction inside a factory. The result was an obvious time savings. Bingham further noted that the inside of the buildings never have been exposed to the weather as they would have been had the district followed traditional construction techniques.
In the past, Bingham also has talked about the modular approach creating some problems and delays in gaining construction permits from Snohomish County.
Usually with portables, its like putting in a mobile home, but this is something completely different, he said at the opening of the A and T school.
There are two facilities still under construction on the options campus. One will house the 10th Street small learning community, that officials have said may or may not keep its name, but will retain its emphasis on music. A fourth campus building contains a gym for use by students from all three campus schools as well as centralized cafeteria facilities. According to Bingham, both buildings should open in April.