New schools on time to open in September

Treaty Rock in Post Falls, NExA in Coeur d’Alene close to completion

Two new schools being built in the Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene school districts are on target to open when the 2020-2021 school year begins in September.

Treaty Rock Elementary School, at 4916 E. Hope Ave., is the first Post Falls school to be built east of Highway 41. Homes are popping up all around it; once they're all filled in, it will be a true neighborhood school.

“At one point, this will be almost exclusively like a walk-in, neighborhood school," Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said Wednesday. "That’s the goal."

Treaty Rock Elementary was named for the historical site in the River City where the legendary treaty between Chief Seltice of the Coeur d'Alene Indians and Fredrick Post, the town's founder, was signed in 1871. It will be able to serve 525 students. Katrina Kramer, who has been the principal at Mullan Trail Elementary for 12 years, will assume the role of principal at Treaty Rock. She will be joined by 11 teachers from Mullan Trail and eight teachers from other school districts. Brad Harmon, former Post Falls Middle School principal, will take over as principal at Mullan Trail. He was the principal of Garwood Elementary School in the Lakeland Joint School District last year.

Keane said Treaty Rock is a "prototype" school for his district. It is the fifth Post Falls school to be constructed in his tenure as superintendent.

"Greensferry and West Ridge are both identical schools to this," he said. "This is a prototype that has been tweaked. Every time, we build almost the same school with tweaks because we found a design that works."

Treaty Rock, located adjacent a looming water tower, will include kindergarten classrooms, a roundabout and busing area to help with traffic, a two-sided stage that opens into the commons as well as the gym and it boasts energy efficiency throughout the building.

"All the lighting is high-efficiency LED lighting," said Zack Richerson, project superintendent. "The HVAC system is a highly efficient system with energy recovery, so it circulates back and uses whatever heat is not used inside the building."

Treaty Rock was approved for construction in March 2019 when district voters passed a $19 million bond for a new elementary school. Architects West is the architect, Ginno Construction is the builder and the cost of the school is $12.5 million.

"We’re in very good shape with our schedule," Keane said. "Ginno has done a really good job and we’re feeling really good about where we’re at."

About 5 miles away, to the east and just a skosh to the north, the new home of the Northwest Expedition Academy is also quickly going up.

The two-story elementary school at 2008 W. Prairie Ave. on the northern edge of Coeur d'Alene will have an enrollment capacity of 546 students. The new NExA features a large, open commons area that will serve as the cafeteria as well as a multi-purpose area for students to work on expeditionary learning activities. A balcony on the second story overlooks the commons. Like Treaty Rock, NExA will also have a two-sided stage. Many of its classrooms are connected by large double-doors for collaborative teaching and interactions between classes.

The schedule will be tight right up to the conclusion of the project, but the school is set to open after Labor Day. Ginno Construction is also in charge of this build.

"Ginno Construction and their trade partners have made a lot of progress over the last few months and will have large crews on the work site daily as we work toward completion," said Jeff Voeller, director of operations for the school district.

Teachers and district officials visited the site Wednesday evening to peek into classrooms and visualize what the school will look like in the fall.

“It’s just so nice and big,” said Katie Harris, who taught first grade at the old school but will teach art at the new one. “It’s been a long time coming."

NNAC Construction is working to build curbs in the median that will establish turn lanes to control traffic on and off Prairie Avenue. A new cross street west of the school, Moselle, will provide the access to the school property.

"Traffic that is westbound on Prairie will have a dedicated turn lane onto Moselle," Voeller explained. "Traffic that is northbound on Moselle, however, will be restricted to a right turn only. Eventually, we expect improved access to the school from the south, when the city extends Wilbur Avenue from Ramsey Road west to Courcelles Parkway. That is an area where new residential development already is happening."

This is also a $12.5 million build. Construction is being funded through the $33.5 million bond measure approved by voters in March 2017.

"The NExA staff and school community are extremely excited to be in their new school," Voeller said. "Most of the students currently zoned for NExA at the Hayden Lake location are still zoned for NExA in its new location."