Pacific Middle School Principal Vanessa Banner and a current Pacific student pose by the display with images and information about the new school that will start construction in September 2025. This year's 5th grade students at Des Moines, Midway and Parkside elementary schools will be in 8th grade when the new school is scheduled to open, September 2027.
New School Display Pop-up at Student-led Conference Night
The Pacific Middle School community got a sneak peek at what the new Pacific Middle School will look like inside when it opens in fall 2027.
Staff from Highline's Capital Planning & Construction team and architects from Hutteball + Oremus Architecture spent the afternoon and evening at Pacific Middle School during student-led conferences on November 26. They displayed design boards of the interior, site plans and a virtual-reality drone video of the exterior of the new building.
The new school design is marching through the construction document phase as each feature undergoes additional levels of review and documentation. Once finalized, Skanska, the general contractor and construction manager, will post portions of the project for bid in early 2025.
As previously announced, during the two-year construction period starting in September 2025, students will attend school at the Olympic Interim Site, 615 South 200th Street in Des Moines, with bus transportation provided. Olympic has housed students from Highline and Tyee high schools during their construction phases.
Additional photos and information for staff, families and students about the Olympic Interim Site will be provided this winter and spring.
Andrew Cottrill, associate principal with Hutteball + Oremus Architecture, points to the cafeteria area of the new Pacific Middle School design.
The project schedule on display shows that the existing Pacific Middle School will be demolished next summer, in 2025. The new Pacific Middle School is scheduled to be completed and ready to open in September 2027.
A Pacific staff member gets more information about the site plans from Katie Pond, principal architect with Hutteball + Oremus Architecture.
Close-up photo of the display board showing renderings of the some of the interior of the new school, including the cafeteria and hallways. A virtual reality video of the exterior of the school is shown on the screen near the bottom of the photo.