Union High: All the Amenities

By Howard Buck, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Sep. 2–On Tuesday, Clark County gains its most expansive and expensive public high school, one with unusually strong ties to the area’s pioneer history.

Union High School in east Vancouver is the latest addition to Evergreen Public Schools, following two years of construction.

It lies on the Vancouver-Camas border, tucked among the WaferTech computer chip plant, woodsy homesteads and open fields poised for commercial development.

In scope and in cost, Union truly fills the “titanic” bill.

A sprawling, collegiate-style campus helps stamp its new identity as “The U” with focus on ambitious academics and a full slate of modern amenities.

A price tag of $62 million — including $46 million for construction during a period of soaring building material costs — further sets it apart.

It’s what Evergreen officials wanted: a distinctive, 21st century school whose large population is split into smaller academies or “learning communities.”

When Clark College dropped its plan to build an adjacent satellite campus, the setback turned into a positive. The ensuing redesign pushed Union’s construction back a year, but created a much different feeling.

“It was very intentional to try to create the feeling of a smaller high school for each of these students,” said former Evergreen Superintendent Rick Melching, who signed off on the changes. “The separate buildings really are the key.”

The size reform

Breaking down the alienation that can pervade super-sized high schools was a focal point of education reformers through the late 1990s. With a keen eye on stiff global competition, the goal is to boost motivation and bonding among students and teachers.

Evergreen, along with other Clark County districts, received federal money to create smaller clusters in all its high schools. A sizable grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation helped initiate the effort. Mountain View, Evergreen and Heritage high schools have incorporated differing versions of the concept.

Union, however, stands apart with its decentralized “home bases.” Students will each have a locker and attend two or more core-subject classes in their home buildings, in which an administrator, student counselor, security and at-risk coordinators will be based.

The four study programs are Engineering and Environmental Studies, Business and Leadership, International Studies, and Visual and Performing Arts.

A proposed Health and Bioscience Academy, to be partially funded with private dollars, would add another option.

Administrators want every Union student to try at least one rigorous Advanced Placement course before they leave, whether college-bound or not.

Thoroughly modern

To help, the campus is infused with modern technology at every turn. There are five full computer labs and 14 smaller computer pods.

Classrooms are equipped with “smart” overhead camera systems to project book pages, drawings and other objects, video or computer images onto screens. Gone are the days of clunky VCRs and television monitors, let alone those positively ancient film projectors. Chalkboards have given way to dust-free whiteboards.

Like most new schools, Union makes good use of natural light with large windows and open common areas. Daylight floods into classrooms, providing a softer feel and curbing energy costs.

A large competition gym, auxiliary gym and weight room will meet athletes’ needs. Union has a full-service auditorium with acoustical ceiling panels, an orchestra pit and a full fly above the stage.

The school has venues ready to host baseball, softball, soccer, tennis and track events. But all varsity home football games will be played at the district’s McKenzie -Stadium, now used by four Evergreen district teams.

Links to the past

Officials expect about 1,320 students on campus Tuesday.

The Titans’ inaugural student body includes sophomores and juniors reassigned from Evergreen, Heritage and Mountain View high schools. Freshman students will arrive straight from several feeder middle schools.

Union won’t have a senior class until next September. It will then quickly fill to about 1,800 students, exceeding its designed capacity. But the campus will greatly ease crowding at other Evergreen high schools, where enrollment has soared well past 2,000 students each.

Despite its fresh start, Union opens with a ready-made legacy. After all, it was named in honor of the long-vanished East Mill Plain Union High School, precursor to the current Evergreen High.

Hundreds of Union alumni from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s who gather for an annual summer picnic offer a built-in base of boosters. They have donated items of memorabilia for display, including old cheerleader squad and varsity sweaters and the original school bell.

In 2009, they can join the first class of Titan graduates to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first Union High.

“Our goal,” said new Principal Brian Grimsted at the school’s ribbon-cutting Aug. 22, “is that our students love their new school as much as they did theirs.”

Howard Buck covers schools and education. He can be reached at 360-759-8015 or howard.buck@columbian.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

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