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The International School in Southwest Portland is under contract to purchase a significant parcel of land around its present campus and is beginning to bounce around concepts for expansion.

Located at 025 S.W. Sherman St., the multi-language immersion school is investing $3 million to purchase property around its campus, including three parcels along Southwest Water Avenue and a facility it currently leases known as the 鈥淗illtop Building.鈥� Robert Woods, the head of school, said the acquisition would pave the way for future growth.

鈥淥ur overarching goal at this point is to get our facilities to a level that they have never been before,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been developed piece by piece or acquired. Not purpose built for our needs.鈥�

The International School serves students between preschool and fifth grade and offers full immersion programs in Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. In the past five years, the school鈥檚 student body has grown 50 percent to 485 students. Future development will be able to accommodate 525.

While construction isn鈥檛 slated to begin anytime in the near future, the first phase of the school鈥檚 master plan calls for the construction of a two- or three-story, 14,000-square-foot classroom building. Phase two would involve a one- or two-story, 6,000-square-foot gymnasium. , a Portland- and Seattle-based architecture firm, has scheduled a pre-application conference for those plans on Nov. 13.

Woods said the school is seeking design approval so that when funds become available, it can proceed with construction. Woods said the school鈥檚 board began a massive property search two years ago, investigating approximately 70 different sites as alternatives. It ultimately settled on its present location; the property purchase is expected to close before the end of the year.

鈥�(This is) a move toward doing what our vision and mission statement and our strategic plan of who we want to be (call for),鈥� Woods said. 鈥淲e want to be looked at as a center of excellence in immersion and education. We are moving toward that in practice but we also want to have the facilities. It would also mean that this area is our permanent home.鈥�