New Wakefield High School Nearly Ready for First Day

In September, everyone will be a new student at Wakefield High School.

Construction is nearly complete on the new high school, at South George Mason Drive and Dinwiddie Street, and it will be ready in time for the first day of school on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

"It's a beautiful building," said Principal Chris Willmore, who is starting his fourth year at the school's helm.

The $120 million school can accommodate nearly 2,000 students and counts nearly 404,000 square feet.

The new Wakefield High School has about 100 classrooms and room to grow. In a school system burdened by an ever-increasing student population, Wakefield should remain below capacity for about five years.

Wakefield is expected to start the 2013-14 school year with about 1,500 students, Willmore said. The student body collectively represents about 90 countries; about 20 different languages are spoken.

The new school has a central town hall area for students and teachers to gather between the cafeteria and one of two courtyards. Wakefield's three stories are above ground in the academic wing; the athletic section is two stories tall plus a third level below.

• New Wakefield Design Offers Students Space to Think Concisely, Creatively

"Some of the utilization of space is rather unique," said Bill Herring Jr., the project manager for Arlington Public Schools. "It's very uniquely laid out. That's something that's very good for the teachers and especially the students — if you enjoy being in a place, then hopefully you'll take advantage of the opportunities presented there."

Arlington Public Schools tried to incorporate as many features as possible into the new school, Herring said Tuesday during a tour with Patch and the Sun Gazette. Most of the furniture was still in boxes — and of the furniture not in boxes, most had been assembled in the past 48 hours, Willmore said.

The open design incorporates a good amount of natural light, which is complimented by sensors that adjust lighting based on the amount of sunlight coming in.

Arlington Public Schools broke ground on the new school — immediately next door to the old Wakefield — in the spring of 2011. Most of the facility, including its auxiliary gym, will be open for the start of school. 

A dedication and community open house is planned for late September. And the main gym, pools, weight rooms and complimentary facilities should be open by the end of October.

The school will feature an environment that uses water for cooling and heating. Each classroom has a heat pump, which can be removed and replaced in one hour in case of a malfunction.

Demolition of the old Wakefield High School will begin in October. Once that's complete, the school system will build 400 wells, each 500 feet deep, into that space. Pipes behind the walls will pump water down to the wells and then back up, helping to cool classrooms in the summer or heat them in the winter. The geothermal heating and cooling system should be complete by August 2014.

Baseball and softball fields will be built over the wells. The fields were previously located on the site of the new school; those teams have been using Barcroft Park during construction.

Wakefield High School also has a rain garden, auditorium, black box theater, separate orchestra and band rooms and sky lights in the media center.

Wakefield High School — By the Numbers:

• Bike racks: 304
• Books transferred from the old school's library: 24,000-plus
• Seating capacity (gym): 2,200
• Seating capacity (auditorium): 500-plus
• Classrooms: 100 (approximate)
• Students per classroom: 26-28