Shining Mountain Waldorf prepares to start construction of new high school campus in Boulder
Feb. 4—Shining Mountain Waldorf School, an independent PK-12 school in north Boulder, is planning to build a new high school campus this spring.
Construction on the new building is scheduled to start in April. A meeting for the school community and school neighbors to see the architectural plans and hear about construction schedules and impacts is set for March, though the exact date has yet to be determined.
"It has been a long held dream of some of our families and founding families to have this new high school," said Mary Fairfield, Shining Mountain's director. "Everything culminates with that high school experience."
The new high school is the first phase of a redevelopment plan of Shining Mountain's almost 12-acre campus. The school, going into its 40th year, moved to its current location about 30 years ago and enrolls about 210 students.
The plan includes selling two parcels for redevelopment, with the land sale now in negotiations. One parcel, at Violet and Broadway, is earmarked for townhomes and is the current high school location. The other, on Union Avenue, will have single family homes.
Along with the planned land sale, the school is using a $4.5 million donation received in 2019 to pay for the campus redevelopment. A future capital needs campaign also is planned to help cover the full cost of the later phases.
Fairfield said the original plan was to start the redevelopment project in 2019, but the pandemic slowed down the site approval and permit process. Boulder approved the site plan in spring 2021, she said.
After finishing the new high school, Shining Mountain plans to complete its Festival Hall building — which houses the gym — by adding on a performing arts space. The last phase adds a two-story building for the elementary and middle school programs, replacing multiple "cabins" that now serve as classrooms for those grades.
Once the redevelopment is complete, Fairfield said, the school's buildings will have a smaller footprint on the site than they do now. The plans also include flood mitigation and a multi use path. The school campus is in a neighborhood and adjacent to Foothills Community Park.
"We want to build a long term, sustainable campus that really works in the neighborhood," Fairfield said.
The projected completion date for the high school is February 2024, with students continuing to learn in the current building until the new one is complete.
The high school now is in a former church that's a low, one level cinder block building. The new, two story building will be built in an "L" shape, with an arts wing and a wing for academic classrooms. The arts wing will include both art and maker spaces to accommodate blacksmithing, woodworking, fine arts and two dimensional arts.
"Instead of fitting ourselves into an existing space, we can design spaces that really reflect what our program is and what the needs are," Fairfield said. "It's exciting."
Along with more modern spaces, the high school's design includes a geothermal heating and cooling system. Construction of the geothermal system, as well as of the building itself, will be used as a learning opportunity for students.
"It will be a real learning tool for our community," Fairfield said.
