The Kent School District’s new academy is taking shape and expected to be done by fall.
Crews continued to work this week on the academy under construction at the southwest corner of Southeast 208th Street and 108th Avenue Southeast.
The new two-story, approximately 58,085-square-foot school building will open at the site of the former Panther Lake Elementary School. The cost is $43.8 million, according to the district.
The district announced plans in early December to call the new school the Kent Laboratory Academy, as it combines the Kent Phoenix Academy and Kent Mountain View Academy, which currently share space at the former Sequoia Middle School, 11000 SE 264th St. The Kent School Board is scheduled to vote Jan. 13 to approve the new name.
Parking areas, the driveway and vehicle loading areas, recreation facilities, stormwater facilities and landscaping will be improved as part of the project, but will remain in similar locations as in the former Panther Lake school site, 20831 108th Ave. SE, across from Safeway.
The district also is constructing a new elementary school on the West Hill at 22420 Military Road S. Voters approved a bond measure in 2016 to pay for the new school, which will cost an estimated $58.2 million, according to district officials. The school, proposed to be called River Ridge Elementary, is going up at the former site of Kent Mountain View Academy, and is scheduled to open in the fall.
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Workers construct the Kent School District’s new academy Dec. 28 in Panther Lake. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
