Experience Magazine 2023
Education Master Plan
The Bush School plans to begin construction of a new building focusing on the Middle School and Center Campus, starting in winter 2025. This project will center the student experience and foster greater connection for our community. It will reimagine our Center Campus and Commons, creating welcoming spaces for our K-12 community to come together. It will add dynamic learning environments to the Middle School and support exceptional inquiry-based and experiential programming as well as ADA accessibility.
In recent years, Bush has invested in Lower School and Upper School facilities. Through this building project, Bush will transform the Middle School and Center Campus. As one of the largest building projects in the school’s history, this project will not only physically transform the Middle School and Center Campus, but also strengthen the entire K-12 community as it launches into the next century.
The Project
Construction for the project is expected to take eighteen months. This three-story, 26,000-square-foot building will lie in the existing footprint of the Commons, Main Office, and Middle School World Languages and Seventh Grade hallway.
The first floor will include an inviting campus entry, spacious student art gallery, and lobby to welcome students, families, and visitors, as well as a larger Commons dining hall, seating up to 250, and serving as a flexible multipurpose space.
The second floor will be devoted to the Middle School and includes six new classrooms, two labs, teacher workspaces for Middle School faculty, and collaborative hub spaces, allowing two-thirds of all Middle School classes (across all three grades) to take place in the new building.
The existing Sixth Grade Wing (along E. Harrison Street) and the Middle School Building along E. Republican Street will remain intact, with updates to ensure continuity of the space. With the majority of Middle School classes held in the new building, the purposes of these spaces will be reimagined with updates to the spaces.
Sustainability
The Bush School is committed to Salmon-Safe certification across campus. As a leading U.S. ecolabel, Salmon-Safe offers peer-reviewed certification, linking site development and land management practices with the protection of agricultural and urban watersheds.
Additionally, the school is considering Zero Carbon, Zero Energy, and Fitwel certifications.
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Zero Carbon-certified buildings are verified by a third party after a twelve-month performance period to be energy efficient, combustion free (or actively phasing out combustion), and powered by renewals.
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Zero Energy certification allows projects to demonstrate that the building is truly operating as claimed; harnessing energy from the sun, wind, or earth to produce net annual energy demand); and powered by renewals.
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Fitwel is the leading rating system for optimizing building design to improve health and wellbeing outcomes. Examples of Fitwel certification include: implementing best practices in stairwell design to encourage stair use and adopting and maintaining an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) policy for the building.
As was the case with the New Upper School Building (Upper School South Building), this project will be funded through a combination of philanthropy and financing. There will be opportunities for the entire community to learn more about the building and how they can get involved as construction nears.
If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about the building project, please contact:
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Head of School Percy L. Abram at percy.abram@bush.edu
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Director of Finance and Operations Rather Stanton at rather.stanton@bush.edu
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Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives Sharon Hurt at sharon.hurt@bush.edu
The Bush School is an independent, coeducational day school located in Seattle, WA enrolling 715 students in grades K–12. The mission of The Bush School is to spark in students of diverse backgrounds and talents a passion for learning, accomplishment, and contribution to their communities.
3400 East Harrison Street, Seattle WA 98112 (206) 322-7978
The Bush School does not discriminate in matters of employment, recruitment, admissions, or administration of any of its programs on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation. In addition, The Bush School does not discriminate in matters of employment on the basis of age or marital status.