Two Schools Joining Forces On One Site -- Riverton Heights Students Moving To Hilltop

SEATAC - Former teachers and students will join schoolchildren enrolled at Riverton Heights Elementary in bidding farewell to the old school Thursday before they pack up for a move to Hilltop Elementary a mile away.

Highline School District officials are closing Riverton, which opened in 1952, because the building is too old to maintain, said Nick Latham, district spokesman.

Also, Latham said, the building, a blue, one-story, mostly brick structure, is near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with loud planes buzzing overhead. The Hilltop building is slightly less noisy, he said. Both buildings are just north of the airport.

Riverton officials will host a farewell party 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the school, 3011 S. 148th St., SeaTac. Teachers and students who were at the school decades ago are expected to attend.

Plans have been in the works to move Riverton's nearly 200 students to the Hilltop building, 12250 24th Ave. S., for more than a year. Construction on a new wing of the Hilltop school is nearly complete, and Riverton students are expected to be moved Feb. 23. There are about 400 students now enrolled at Hilltop.

The move will be mostly a change of venue and should not disrupt the class structure of either school, Latham said. Riverton students will have the same teachers and office workers will keep their jobs, minus one staff member who is retiring.

In anticipation of the move, Dave Jarvis has been principal of

both Hilltop and Riverton for the past year and a half. Robin Lamoureux has served as his assistant at Riverton.

Jarvis said that 20 or 30 years ago in its heyday, the school had about 600 students. But that number has steadily declined along with the condition of the building. He cited a leaky roof and a broken boiler as items in need of repair.

Highline officials say the move saves money because the district will only have to pay for the operation of one cafeteria, one playground and one building. Renovations to Hilltop include 10 new classrooms and a new music room and gymnasium.

The district plans to rent out the Riverton building to community groups if there's enough interest, Latham said.