Project Description
Learning stairs are among the unique features of the replacement Harry S. Truman Elementary School.
The new school was built next to the original 50-year-old school while it remained occupied by students and staff. When the new two-story 89,000-square-foot school was complete, the old school was demolished and replaced by new landscaped parking lots and a bus loop.
Other features of the school include co-op and small-group spaces in the classroom cluster in lieu of hallways. Classrooms that emphasis hands-on learning and movement, such as art, dance and music, open onto an interior courtyard through roll-up, glass garage doors.
Security upgrades, a Family Community Resource Center and a large commons area — which can be rented by community groups — are among the highlights that make it superior to the previous school.
Vancouver Public Schools produced this video of the nearly completed school in the summer of 2020.
Construction began in January 2019 and the school, designed for 720 students, was ready to open in the fall of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, forced the district to switch to online learning. Available is a time-lapse video of the construction process
