Beaverton High School's 1,436 students walked into a brand-new, 290,000-square-foot building on Wednesday, Aug. 26, the largest single project in the $723 million bond that Beaverton School District voters approved in May 2022.

The same bond is funding projects at Westview and Sunset high schools, which serve Bethany-area families.

School leaders rang the original schoolhouse bell as students filed in through a pedestrian walkway separating the new building from the old one, OPB reported. Students and staff navigated the three-story structure together for the first time. Freshmen had arrived a day earlier, on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

"Sometimes when you open a new facility, it can look a little sterile," Principal Andrew Kearl said. "This one does not feel that way - it's vibrant; it feels like the old Beaverton."

The district's oldest school now features a courtyard, color-coded hallways by subject area, a gym with an indoor track, an auditorium seating more than 400 with 55-foot ceilings, and four tactile murals created by more than 100 ceramics students. Near Greg Karakashian's AVID classroom, "flex spaces" let students work on projects independently.

Designers preserved pieces of the school's history. The front office walls are covered with repurposed flooring from the former Merle Davies Elementary School, which once stood on the same property. A wooden beaver sculpture donated by the Class of 1965 sits in the student center.

The projected cost of the new building is $253 million, and the district expected it to come in under budget after nearly two years of construction, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

Parking limited while old building stands

The old Beaverton High School building remains standing. Once demolished, the site will become student and staff parking lots. Until then, parking is limited.

Kearl encouraged students to carpool, especially for games, KGW reported. Final construction, including the parking lots, is expected to wrap up by summer 2027.

Bond work continues at Bethany-area schools

The 2022 bond program also includes projects at Westview High School, where baseball and softball fields are being converted to artificial turf this summer, and at Sunset High School. Once Westview's fields are completed, all BSD high school softball and baseball fields will have artificial turf, according to the district's bond website.

Photography teacher Kelly Holt, whose old classroom had no windows, now has natural light in her new room. In the old building, her husband had cut out a wooden monstera so she could have a plant in her windowless space.

"I think kids are going to have a whole lot of fun going on photography scavenger hunts in the school," Holt told OPB.