In 1980, three local teachers got together and created the Northwest School, now home to one of our area's most dynamic and community-engaged student cultures.

The school, housed in an historic school building, is located along the Pike/Pine corridor, close to downtown. The building is a part of the school's culture and its students take the landmark's stewardship to heart. Working in cross-graded teams three times each week, all students and faculty are responsible for cleaning and maintaining the historic building, grounds, and other parts of the neighborhood. As one of our neighbors, Historic Seattle greatly appreciates this attention to our environment. During the summer, the streets, sidewalks, and right of ways around Northwest School are noticeably more cluttered with garbage than the rest of the year. When school is in session, Northwest School students regularly maintain these public spaces. The school has won many well-deserved awards for this comprehensive stewardship.

The historic school and the character of student life at the Northwest School are inextricably bound. The school's broad hallways, nearly 12 or more feet wide, serve double duty as circulation and communal meeting space. While taking a tour of the building with Kevin Alexander, the school's Dean of Students, I noticed this double function, even with a limited number of students attending during summer session. Alexander confirmed my observation. During the school year, students gather in these wide hallways lined by enormous windows visible from the western façade. These spaces are integrally related with the line of classroom spaces along the "single loaded" corridor. Such exceptionally generous spaces provide a striking comparison with more contemporary, streamlined school designs.

The flood of light within these west-facing corridors was intentional, programmed within the design of progressive school buildings during the first decades of the twentieth century. Educational reformers called for larger classrooms with more light and air - these conditions, they argued, would improve the quality of education received, and health of the student body. As a preservationist, it is extremely satisfying to see that these historic design principles have come full circle. The Northwest School's holistic approach to student life and curricula echoes these now century-old ideas about how and in what environment students are best taught.

The main school building is prominently located on a slight hill overlooking the city, and dominates the surrounding blocks, especially along Pike Street. Other school functions are housed in the neighborhood, which further connects the student body to First Hill and its historic fabric. Students living away from home reside in a historic brick building a block away from the school, at a triangular intersection joining Minor Avenue, Bellevue Avenue, and Union Street. Currently undergoing exterior renovations, the understated historic building is visually linked with the character of the neighborhood, rather than the central school building. The school's cafeteria is located a few blocks from the main facility, in a building whose first story was programmed for an upscale restaurant that never caught on.

The continuity between the historic school building and neighborhood, and the current student body is underscored by the school's self-awareness. Classrooms are significantly named. One room, on the northwest side of the building, is named for a pair of sisters who taught at Summit School in its early days. Many classrooms maintain their original slate blackboards, now covered in a light wash of a century's worth of chalk. A "historic" tour of the building demonstrates great similarity with past functions. Once a classroom, now a classroom, then a recreational area, now a recreational room, but now for both sexes.

Some alterations have taken place to maximize the use of the facility, such as the removal of over a dozen urinals in the "little boy's room," once announced by a door sign with exactly that description. Additional metal rails have been added, subtly, to the historic stairwells. A tall columnar memorial has been inserted in the center of a spiral stair to remember a classmate that passed away. The stairs in this stairwell have been painted cobalt blue, certainly contrasting the historic beiges and browns of the rest of the building, but well suits the character of the culture inhabiting the space.

Kevin Alexander noted the sensitivity of the student body to their built environment by describing how a delicate ceramic student artwork can stand, intact, in one of the school's public spaces, on a narrow plinth for several months without damage. Students regularly monitor vandalism within the school's walls, and take turns buffing out the carving and marking that rarely occurs. This creates a strong, social disincentive for would-be desk-carvers and scofflaws.

Kudos to founders Ellen Taussig, Mark Terry, and Paul Raymond and the staff and faculty at Northwest School for integrating preservation into the school's mission and culture. For more information on the Northwest School, visit their website.

View last month's Young Voices article

Back to Top