Northwest Christian Schools plans to break ground this summer on a $3.25 million expansion of its Colbert-based secondary school, says head of schools Roger Gerstenberger. 

The expansion is planned for the school system’s main campus, a 116-acre property dubbed Colbert Upper Campus, which enrolls grades 7^th through 12^th and is located at 5104 E Bernhill, 30 minutes north of downtown Spokane. 

“The goal is to start using the classrooms by fall 2026," Gerstenberger says. 

Spokane-based McCloskey Construction Inc. is the contractor on the project, and Form Architecture Inc., also of Spokane, designed the expansion. 

The envisioned addition, about 9,200 square feet of classroom space, storage, and restrooms, is to accommodate the school’s growth as well as boost the school’s programming, Gerstenberger says. Of the six classrooms, four are intended to be used as general multipurpose rooms while the remaining two classrooms will serve as dedicated spaces for more advanced learning. One classroom will host a college-level science lab, while a second will be a dedicated space for students to learn and acquire more trade-based skills within science, technology, engineering, and math, known as STEM. 

“As more students are choosing to go into the trades, we want to make sure to prepare them,” Gerstenberger says, pointing out the Colbert community has a high number of people working in the trades and service industry. 

Northwest Christian Schools was founded in 1949 and is a faith-based educational institution that provides gospel-centered education.

In addition to its main campus, the organization also operates two primary schools for students’ kindergarten through sixth grade and a homeschooling campus. One primary school is the Colbert Lower Campus at 5028 E. Bernhill, and the second, known as the Cedar Campus, is located north of downtown Spokane at 5975 N. Cedar, a few blocks south of Francis. Both of those campuses also offer early learning programs for infants through pre-kindergarten.

A Homeschool Campus meets at Crossover Church, at 16825 N. Newport Highway.

Altogether, the organization has just over 1,200 students enrolled.