Modernizing Program Raises Hope -- New Ballard High School Will Showcase Latest In Technology

Kristi Aamodt is barely a month into the new school year. But she's already looking forward to next year, when she and her classmates, now housed at the old Lincoln High School, will mark a huge milestone in the Seattle School District: the opening of the new Ballard High.

It will be the first brand-new high school for Seattle in 35 years, and the flagship of the district's effort to modernize itself with a 19-school, $357 million construction program.

And the Ballard High that will hold its first classes next September will bear almost no resemblance to the one it's replacing.

Among other new elements in the $35 million school, there will be a genetics lab; a two-story, enclosed student commons area; a tournament-class gym; larger classrooms, with 30 Internet connections in each; an innovation lab, with a bench-top wind tunnel; a day-care center for students' own children; computerized milling machines; a real-life apartment to help teach independence skills to disabled students; an art court and greenhouse; and, get this - more restrooms for girls than for boys.

Aamodt has a special interest in the new project. Not only is she president of the junior class, which will be the first to graduate in the new school, but she's been on the design-review committee since her freshman year.

She drives by the construction site nearly every day on her way to and from school, watching it take form. "They've been wanting to build a school practically since the day I was born," she said. "It's nice to see it come true."

She has no regrets for the old school, which was built in 1914. "It wasn't structurally sound," she said. "Students were afraid of it collapsing on top of us in an earthquake."

The science focus and the gym are Aamodt's favorite features of the new Ballard.

The gym will seat 1,600 in the bleachers, with an auxiliary practice gym, as well. Aamodt and her volleyball teammates will finally have plenty of room, and they'll be able to host tournaments.

State-of-the-art labs

The other exciting change at Ballard will be the new science and technology focus. "The science lab is supposed to be really state-of-the-art and high-tech, with a new genetics lab, biology and chemistry labs," Aamodt said. And she looks forward to Internet access in both the library and all the classrooms - something that is very limited now at Lincoln.

The high-tech focus, along with all the other elements of the school, is part of an eight-year, communitywide effort. Designers at Mahlum Architects met with teachers, students, parents, staff members and neighborhood residents for input on the shape Ballard High School would take, inside and out.

With the local involvement, "it's become more of a center for that community," said Vince Nordfors, partner at Mahlum Architects.

The school is being built with pods of classrooms that can be changed to fit any of the four most popular teaching methods - including "school within a school," where classes are split up; and the method Ballard will use, called team-teaching, where teachers in different disciplines work together.

Flexibility is key

New-school construction is not all that common to begin with, but it is even more unusual in urban districts with a stock of older buildings and without significant enrollment growth. New high schools are more common in the suburbs, where population growth demands them.

Schools such as Ballard are planned and built to last 50 to 70 years, but they have to accommodate changes over that time span.

"When you think about it, eight years ago, we didn't even know what the Internet was," said Gary Baldasari, program manager for the district's Facilities Development and Construction department.

The auditorium and new gym will have public entrances so they can be opened for evening plays, concerts and sporting events, while keeping the rest of the school secure.

Construction is scheduled to be done June 21.

One person who won't be there when the school opens next fall will be the principal in charge during the design process. Chuck Chinn, a 29-year veteran of Seattle Schools, will retire in December.

Chinn was promoted to principal of Ballard High in 1990. At the time, he said, he had no idea he would be the head of a school that had to be planned, designed and constructed - with the entire staff and student body transplanted to a temporary campus for two years.

After an attempt to move Ballard students to the old Sand Point Naval Base met with neighborhood opposition and delays, the school district was able to renovate the old Lincoln High School in Wallingford. All the uncertainty, however, led to a decline in enrollment.

Now, the new school is progressing so well that Chinn said there was a waiting list of 75 for this year's freshman class.

"I'm hearing in the community there is interest from Queen Anne and Magnolia especially," Chinn said. Neither of those neighborhoods has its own high school.

The new building will hold up to 1,600 students. Today's enrollment is 1,100.

The school, said Chinn, will fulfill "a commitment to the Ballard community we made eight years ago. The commitment the district made to the community - not just a high school, but the flagship of Seattle schools for years to come."

-------------------------- Ballard High School rising --------------------------

Flexibility and technology are the guiding words for the new Ballard High School. Because schools are designed to last 50 to 70 years, the kinds of technology needed and even subjects to be taught are difficult to predict, so the school wiring is expandable and some walls are movable. The school, which will have a technology focus, will have a science and technology center where students can design items, have them fabricated and test them. The school also is designed so several parts can be locked off while some remain open for off-hours activities.

Focus on technology

Technology will be the school's emphasis. Partnerships with local companies, including Boeing, will be pursued to gain new and used equipment, and experts will be invited to help bring a work-world relevance to school subjects. Students will learn principles of technology and put them into practice using advanced equipment.

Science and technology center

Innovation lab: for brainstorming and developing ideas, often in teams.

AutoCADD lab: Projects will be designed in 3D on computers using AutoCADD software.

Materials lab: Items will be fabricated using computer numerically controlled (CNC) technology, which cuts a model to shape from the AutoCADD design. Students will be working with the computers, shop equipment and testing equipment.

Power and energy lab: For learning how engines work, testing fabricated items and working with robotics. Aerodynamics of cars and airplane wings can be tested in a bench-top wind tunnel (36 inches long and 12 inches in diameter).

Greenhouse: 800 square feet, donated by Ballard Association. Shade and lighting controls.

Family-living area

An apartment where physically and mentally disabled students can learn practical living skills and independence.

Kickproof walls

Walls are a sandwich of sturdy materials:

1/2-inch plywood.

Veneer plaster over 1/2-inch gypsum wallboard.

Diagonal steel girder reinforcement for earthquake safety.

Metal studs.

Security

Features include cameras, motion detectors, glass-breakage sensors and door breaks. Parts of school can be closed off during after-hours activities, and the computer lab is below ground to prevent break-ins.

Daycare

Capacity: 12-18 slots for children of students, so students can continue education. Will be divided between infants and toddlers.North Seattle Community College as a co-op and Early Child Education facility are possibilities.

Study lab: One-way mirror so students in child-development classes can observe children interacting with other children and adults.

Computer labs

Placed below ground for security and to prevent glare.

Library

Size: 8,200 square feet.

Book capacity: 18,000.

Computer capacity: 48.

- Integrated full computer lab.

- Extra conduit for additional wiring.

- TV production-studio space.

Gymnasiums

(Built onto slope)

Large gym: Basketball court and bleachers for assembly to seat the maximum of 1,600 students.

Small gym: basketball court, wrestling, gymnastics, etc.

Equipment-storage area separates gyms.

Auditorium

Seats: 500.

Choir-practice room.

Black-box theater.

Student-activity center.

Commons/dining

Students can gather in this central two-story open area near the cafeteria. Large windows will flood the space with natural light. Closed-circuit TVs will post school announcements and show student-produced videos.

Tennis courts

Four lighted courts will be open to the public in off-hours in an agreement with the Parks Department. In exchange, students may use Captain Ballard Pool on the corner of 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 67th Street in the mornings.

Art Court

Wet room for painting, work with clay.

Dry room for other projects.

Large windows show outdoor display area; in good weather, artists can work outside.

Glass cases in hallway will display student artwork.

Memorial plaza

The plaza, dedicated to those who died young, will include the bench in memory of slain student Melissa Fernandes.

Old into new

Masonry: After the old school was demolished, crushing machines were used to recycle concrete and masonry. Large pieces became fill under the one-story area of the new school; finer pieces will be fill under sidewalks.

Casst-iron brackets: They held up the cornice of the old school and will be near the ceiling of the Commons as ornamentation.

Heritage trees

Trees planted when the school was built were preserved. They include horse chestnuts and a Dutch elm.

Copper panels

Replicas of the old panels will line the area between windows on the front wall.

Motif

The old terra-cotta geometric design will be integrated into a seat wall at the Art Court. Concrete casts of the old wave tulip design will be inlaid in walls on south side.

Safety

Earthquakes: Reinforced masonry and structurally braced steel frame, seismic-rated for Zone 4.

Fire protection: Walls, doors, frames and portions of steel are fire-rated; fire sprinklers are throughout.

Power

Central-heating plant has natural-gas-fired heat pump and boilers for hot water. To save money, the school has signed up for interruptible power. When the utility anticipates high demand, it will ask the school to switch to its own power, fuel oil. Boilers have jets that can be changed to accommodate ether kind of power. Backup generator in place for emergencies.

Fuel-oil reserve: A 5,000-gallon, double-shell tank is sunk in the ground.

Flexibility

Wiring

- Conduit in noncorrodable blue plastic "smurf" is embedded in concrete floor. It's accessible (for expansion) in walls, where it runs through fireproof metal tubes. Has capacity for 600 computers now.

- Low-voltage wiring runs along metal "cable trays" in hall ceilings that have ample room for additional wiring. Low-voltage electricity powers cable TV, satellite dish for long-distance learning, communications, fiber optics and the security system.

Movable walls: Some large rooms can quickly be divided into two or three smaller rooms depending upon the class size. Accordion-like divider walls fold out from side walls, where they are stored.

Ballfield

Most experts figure a school needs 40 acres to build competition-size playfields. The Ballard site is only 13 acres, which is less than half what most schools have in Washington state. The old site was a dirt-and-grass field that had only a quarter-mile track. With a new design, the field now has a 500-meter track, with jogging space all the way around, plus a small football/soccer field for practice, baseball diamond, long jump, broad jump and shotput.

How the field will stay dry

The entire field is designed to drain. Perforated pipe is sunk three feet underground and is wrapped with a fabric sleeve to prevent clogging. Layers of sand and gravel help water percolate to the pipe.

4-inch top mix.

Pop-up rotary sprinkler.

Irrigation water pipe.

4-inch perforated corrugated drain tubing.

Filter fabric wrapped around washed pea gravel.

Accessibility

School fully meets all ADA and Washington state regulations. Has elevators, wide halls, wide toilets, an adequate number of toilets; stairs have contrast strip and anti-trip grip for visually impaired.

Comparing the schools

Old school

Size: 239,000 square feet.

Capacity: 1,200 students.

Acres: 11.

Opened: 1914.

New school

Size: 244,000 square feet.

Capacity: 1,600 students.

Acres: 13 (School district acquired gas station on southwest corner).

Opening: 1999.

Architect: Mahlum Architects.

Contractor: Keiwit Construction.

Local materials: Concrete, Salmon Bay Concrete; bricks, J&S Masonry; copper, Salmon Bay Sheet Metal.

Construction timetable.

Aug. 1997: Demolition and site work begun.

October 1997: Groundbreaking.

October 1998: Exterior to be closed to weather.

June 1999: Construction to be completed.

Summer 1999: Testing, move-in.

Sources: Seattle School District, Mahlum Architects; reporting by Karen Kerchelich and Julie Peterson.