Iowa district nears completion of its second high school

The Waukee (Iowa) district is finishing construction of its second high school, which is set to open later this year.

The Des Moines Register reports that when Northwest High School opens, it will house 1,300 10- through 12-grade students.

Waukee Chief Operating Officer Kirk Johnson says the building can easily fit 2,000 students, and within a couple of years, the district anticipates reaching that number.

Waukee High School, built in 1997, has about 2,300 students.

For the last several years, the Waukee school district has been experiencing steady growth. This year's graduating class is about 780, and  the first-grade class has about 1,000 students. The district projects that its enrollment will grow by more than 3,000 students over the next five years.

Northwest High, a 390,000-square-foot facility, sits on about 90 acres of land, on a campus that features 12 tennis courts, a football stadium, two baseball and two softball fields and an indoor and outdoor hitting facility.

[FROM 2018: Bond approval clears way for 2nd high school in Waukee]

The $140 million school will be surrounded by the city's 66-acre, $5.7 million Triumph Park, a sports complex that will include a dozen ball fields, a 15,000-square-foot playground, a pond and fishing pier.

Inside, the three-level high school opens up with a large common area that functions as a cafeteria and gathering space for students. Other features include a large gym space that can be divided in two for games or classes, a wrestling room, two rooms each for band and choir rooms, and an auditorium that can seat 1,000.

To accommodate future growth and maximize efficiency, teachers will not have their own classrooms and will instead work out of six planning rooms. Each of the rooms will have cubicles for at least 20 staff members, where they can work and collaborate with other teachers and store their personal items.

In another nod to a more college-like atmosphere, not every student will have a locker. Johnson says students who need lockers will be able to request them.

Johnson says the building will be substantially completed" by April, and will open to students for the 2021-22 school year.

Video from the Waukee district: