Building a Better Future update: New elementary school and Maple Grove Senior High addition
John Morstad, executive director of finance and operations for Osseo Area School, provided an update on Building a Better Future projects at the district’s most recent school board meeting.
Morstad said construction projects at Brooklyn Middle STEAM School and North View Middle School are scheduled to begin right after school ends in early June.
The district took advantage of spring break week by installing some new furniture at five pilot locations around the district. Staff and students will test out this furniture, and leaders will gather information to make more informed decisions on what types of furniture performs best before making larger purchases.
Morstad said the district has spent the past three months in the planning process for the district’s new elementary school and Maple Grove Senior High School’s addition.
Lynae Schoen from Wold Architects and Engineers provided additional details on the first phase of schematic design for these two projects. Each project has a core planning group comprised of district staff, parents, community members and students who gave their time to touring different schools and attending several meetings to share their viewpoints and opinions.
New elementary school
The new elementary school will serve Pre-K through grade 5 with a capacity of 1,025 students. The project will include a new 125,000 square foot school, site improvements and new furniture.
The district plans to bid the project in January 2025 and begin 14-16 months of construction shortly thereafter. The new school will feature a “learning studio” design, where each grade level has its own studio space that includes classrooms, a large resource area, small group rooms, a staff space, a mud room for outdoor gear and a bank of toilets.
The new school is slated to open in time for the 2026-27 school year to begin.
Maple Grove Senior High addition
The Maple Grove Senior High addition project will increase capacity at the school from its current 2,185 students to 2,730. It will include a 65,750 square foot building addition and 34,000 square feet of renovations to existing space. The project will include building and onsite improvements, including all new furniture.
With the additional constraints of a renovation and having students in the school building, Schoen said the high school’s project schedule is more complex than that of the new elementary school because it must take advantage of multiple summer breaks for work time without students or staff in the building. Construction is slated to begin in May 2025 and continue through August 2027.
Highlights will include:
A cafeteria expansion that will nearly double the current cafeteria space
A new, secure entrance where all visitors are routed through the front office before they can enter the building
Phy. Ed, athletics and locker room expansions
Expanded band and choir spaces
A re-envisioned media center (as will all district schools thanks to Building a Better Future funding)
A three-story classroom addition, which will also serve as a storm shelter.
The classroom additions will include space for career and technical education, engineering, family and consumer science (FACS) and other hands-on spaces like science classrooms.
Later in April, the district will release a more complete construction schedule that includes a clearer timeline for all 66 projects covered under the Building a Better Future plan.
The process will now move into a design development phase, where designers will spend two to three months in meetings with all user groups and stakeholders to discuss each space and make plans for details such as flooring, storage space, countertop and sink needs and more.