Bertschi Blooms Construction Project
For 50 years, Bertschi has created an educational experience that inspires wonder. We seek to preserve the cozy, intimate, child-centered feel of our village-style campus, which is an essential aspect of the Bertschi experience.
Building Bertschi's Next Chapter
What We're Building
The new Schoolhouse and main entry on our campus will provide larger more flexible classrooms for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. The building will also feature a new Spanish classroom, flexibility for our after school program, a new faculty/staff lounge, and a new main office and health room. The mass timber structure will feature energy-efficient systems that exceed city sustainability standards, and our campus will be fully-accessible from the new 10th Ave E entrance into every classroom. We will also prepare the first floor of the Annex as a home for a second pre-K classroom, as well as update our outdoor play spaces.
Support Bertschi Blooms
Gifts of all sizes from all members of our community help bring us across the finish line and ensure that this project is built on the widest possible foundation of community investment.
For additional information about giving options and payment plans, contact Rose Bellini.
Sustainable Design & Construction
The new building will also significantly lessen the environmental impact of our campus overall with improved mechanical systems and new solar panels.With several celebrated certifications on our campus, including the first certified "Living Building" in Washington State and the first in the world built to the Living Building Challenge 2.0 standard, we strive to provide learning spaces that inspire students to create a healthier, positive, and sustainable future.
The Schoolhouse project will achieve two new exciting certifications: the Social Equity Assessment Method (SEAM) and Salmon Safe. Learn more here.
Bertschi Student Input
Bertschi students have been integral to our planning process, providing input from the very beginning. Early on, students met with our architects to dream big and draw what they imagined the future of Bertschi's campus could be. Later, students visited the offices of Mithun Architects to give input on evolving plans for the outdoor play spaces, weighed in on new playground equipment, as well as made a collective decision about color elements in the new Schoolhouse. The fingerprints of this generation of Bertschi students will be seen for many years to come.
Construction Timeline
We are planning for construction to begin in June 2026 and conclude in fall 2027. Please note these plans can shift and change. We will continue to update the community and neighborhood as we move further through the planning process. Current families can view the latest updates by logging into the family portal.
What's Happening On Campus Now?
The existing Schoolhouse has been fully demolished and shoring and lagging operations are complete. The west neighbor fence/sound barrier is also complete. Venture General Contracting (VGC) is now proceeding with waterproofing within the pit, in preparation for rebar installation and shotcrete foundation work. The month of September will be focused on concrete forming and pouring of the foundations basement and under-slab utilities.
Coming Up Next
The month of October we will be focused on Mass Timber construction. A mobile crane will be brought to site, and the building structure will start to take shape. You can expect to see delivery trucks entering and exiting the site as we start framing the building.
Neighborhood Impacts
This phase of construction can be noisy, and some days may be louder than others. All work will take place between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Tenth Avenue E will remain open, with intermittent sidewalk closures for trucks entering/existing the construction site. Tree protection has gone in on Boston and Lynn Streets as required by the City to allow us to proceed with construction activities.
Contact Us & Join the Neighbor Mailing List
Add me to the email list for invitations to periodic neighborhood information sessions, updates, and announcements.
Neighbors: report any issues or concerns to construction@bertschi.org or call our main office at (206) 324-5476. For emergencies use Venture General Contractor's 24-hour emergency phone line (206) 909-4027.
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