What Pasco chose to name the Tri-Cities’ newest high school and career academy

Eric Rosane
·2 min read
A rendering shows what Pasco School District’s third comprehensive high school might look like. Work is proceeding at 6091 Burns Road, where gym walls are now going up.

The names of Pasco’s two new high schools will pay homage to the region’s agricultural industry and the star-bright futures of its students.

The Pasco School Board voted Tuesday to name its third comprehensive high school Harvest View High School and name its career and college academy Orion High School.

Both schools will open to students in Fall 2025.

“We have names for the high schools and we can move on to getting mascots and colors. This is a really big step,” board President Amy Phillips said.

The vote to name Orion High School was unanimous.

But the board split in a 3-2 vote to approve the name of Harvest View High School.

Both Phillips and board member Vincent Guerrero preferred other names. Harvest View also received low feedback scores from parents and students.

“It just seemed like a more unique name, something that could be specific to our district. And it’s still reflective of our community and actually what’s going to be a focus at that high school with its agricultural program,” said board member Rosa Torres.

The board was pressured to approve names at this meeting in order to meet deadlines to incorporate the schools’ new names into the building designs.

Board member Amanda Brown said she liked Orion High School because it’s not only the name of a star constellation, but was the name of a fighter plane that was manufactured in Pasco during World War II.

“I think the historical significance as well as the science connections really make it a great name for our college and career academy,” Brown said.

The school board chose the names from nine options presented to them during their Oct. 10 meeting.

Voters earlier this year approved a 21-year, $195.5 million bond measure to build a third comprehensive high school to serve 2,000 students and a technical high school to serve 600 in-district students.

These new schools will aim to not only alleviate overcrowding in Pasco schools, but also provide more program options for high school students.

Fowler General Construction has already begun work to construct the 300,000-square-foot Harvest View High School, which will sit on a 65-acre campus at 6091 Burns Road.

Construction of the college and career high school, located at Salt Lake Street and near Curie STEM Elementary, will begin in spring 2024. In addition to their high school diploma, students there will also graduate with workforce-ready credentials, industry certifications and hands-on experience.

The school district has already begun the process of redrawing its attendance boundaries to incorporate Harvest View in with Chiawana and Pasco high schools.