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Parkrose Middle School Principal Molly Ouche is wondering how much longer teachers and students can cope with their building’s problems.

鈥淚 feel like we’re in this crunch with time: Can we make it through the next year or so?鈥� she said. 鈥溾�� Hopefully we can make it through this (next) summer.鈥�

Parkrose was built in 1961 as a two-grade junior high school. It now serves three grades and nearly 800 students 鈥� many more than intended, Ouche said. The building is in major disrepair: walls contain asbestos; the roof is unstable; and fire alarms sound at random times and more often than they should.

The woes may persist, but they won’t bother the educational process for much longer. That is because construction is set to start soon on a new $43 million school, on the existing one’s plot of land in Northeast Portland.

For years, Parkrose School District officials sought to find money to replace the building and improve other facilities. However, a potential bond always seemed to be overshadowed by a larger one for Portland Public Schools.

Finally, in 2011, voters passed a ballot measure for a $63 million bond. The new middle school will be the first project associated with the bond.

The 140,000-square-foot building will feature more space, state-of-the-art amenities and an innovative design to inspire collaboration between students, teachers and the community, Ouche said.

鈥淲hen we were designing it, we were constantly checking ourselves and being as innovative and flexible as possible,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just sounds incredible, because we’ve been in this old building for so long.鈥�

The theme of the new school’s design is transparency, said Jerry Waters, an associate with project designer . The building’s 32 classrooms will be grouped into eight pods; each one will have a collaborative study space in the middle, with four glass walls separating it from classrooms.

The school’s design is similar to the one that Dull Olson Weekes-IBI Group Architects used for the new Sandy High School, which also has classroom pods and collaborative spaces.

Additionally, classrooms will be L-shaped to encourage different arrangements, Waters said.

鈥淚t’s really to create a project-based learning environment where the learning is done between the instructors and students as well as students and students,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re finding learning and retention rates are much higher in this kind of environment than sitting and taking notes.鈥�

The classrooms are all designed with the same layout so they can be used for a variety of courses, Waters added. Each one will have wireless Internet 鈥� a big deal for Parkrose, Ouche said.

Functional amenities and clean finishes will be big upgrades from those in the existing school, she added.

Parkrose’s teachers will finally have proper classroom environments; the Spanish teacher, for example, presently teaches in a former choir room. Also, a large library space will accommodate community or district meetings.

鈥淚t’s about visibility and making what we’re doing transparent to the community and each other,鈥� Ouche said. 鈥淚t’s going to be really exciting.鈥�

Todd Construction is expected to finish building the school by 2014.