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In St. Helens, quality of children’s education has suffered because of outdated facilities. But over the next two years, more than $50 million will be invested in improvements to serve the district.

鈥淭rying to have a 21st century learning strategy and squeeze it into a 20th century school is not great,鈥� said Scot Stockwell, superintendent of the St. Helens School District.

There are three main projects being paid for with $49 million in bond money approved by voters in 2016 and $4 million more in lottery funds. The largest project will replace St. Helens Middle School with a modern building. Also, a new Columbia County Education Campus (CCEC) will replace a series of portable classrooms. Finally, St. Helens High School will gain security and classroom upgrades.

鈥淏onds are always tough sells in St. Helens,鈥� Stockwell said. 鈥淲e had gone 20 to 25 years without a bond.鈥�

A key to earning public support for this bond, he said, was focusing on what was most pressing and what the community could afford. That is where Soderstrom Architects came in, and informed the public of major issues 鈥� two were tied to asbestos and fire safety 鈥� plaguing the middle school.

鈥淲e were hired to do the facilities master plan,鈥� said Henry Fitzgibbon, a partner with the firm. 鈥淲e held a number of public meetings, and the public was in favor replacing the (middle school).

鈥淐ode states you can only have so many feet without a fire wall. It was more than double the footage with no fire walls, so we would have (had) to put in fire walls.鈥�

Voters’ approval of the bond measure has set the stage for a new, $41.3 million, 104,000-square-foot middle school to open before classes start in September 2019. The structure will be able to accommodate 750 students, and include a large commons area, a cafeteria and an area for outdoor classes. The design calls for two gymnasiums 鈥� one large enough to hold spectator events and another for physical education classes.

鈥淚t was a tricky site design,鈥� Fitzgibbon said. 鈥淲e had to keep the current middle school in operation while building. We essentially put the new school on top of the existing track and field.鈥�

The new facility will also sport a unique design.

鈥淏y making it U-shaped, we were able to tighten the footprint,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t also afforded a space to have an outdoor classroom.鈥�

Also, the new school will increase educators’ ability to provide hands-on learning, Fitzgibbon said.

鈥淚t will have a maker space and a robotics room,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s designed to provide for a lot of power and tools for making robots. There are national competitions that St. Helens competes in robotics.鈥�

The new, $4.4 million CCEC structure will be sandwiched between the administration office and new middle school. It will replace five portable classrooms that suffered from dry rot, leakage problems and the absence of spaces such as a library.

The school serves students in a nontraditional format, focusing on communication skills, assertiveness training and conflict resolution, among other life skills.

鈥淚t’s a strong program that deserves more than what they’ve got,鈥� Stockwell said, in reference to existing facilities. 鈥淲e are telling these kids to stay in school and then put them in the worst classrooms.鈥�

The new facility will include a commons area and a kitchen; it’s scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Remaining money from the $53 million pot will go toward improving security and a science classroom at St. Helens High School.

The public engagement process for the bond measure has helped unite the community and generate pride in the projects, Stockwell said.

鈥淪entimentally, it brought a lot of people together,鈥� he said.