Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, says it has started construction of the 45,000-square-foot, $12.3 million Delta High School, a four-year-old STEM-focused high school in northwest Pasco, Wash.

STEM refers to the academic areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Justin Paine, vice president of Walker Construction, says the two-story building, to be located at 5801 Broadmoor Blvd., will be a structural steel-framed building with metal siding aluminum panels and structural precast metal roofing. 

The project is expected to be completed by summer 2015, Paine says.

Because it’s a STEM high school, he says, it won’t be a cookie-cutter school. “There are about 20 classrooms and a lot of them will have lab spaces and larger classrooms for team meetings,” Paine says.

In addition to classrooms, a full-service cafeteria and kitchen will be constructed, as well as restrooms, staff rooms, and offices, he says. 

The building is being erected on 6.5 acres of land owned by the Pasco School District, says Kim Marsh, the district’s capital projects director. Marsh says the building will be horseshoe-shaped, around a large open courtyard in the center, with extensive covered walkways. A 150-space parking lot behind the school will be constructed as well, providing parking for staff, teachers, and students. 

The exterior will be black stucco, Marsh says. 

He says the project is being funded with money from the neighboring Pasco, Richland, and Kennewick districts, with matching funds from the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Delta High School serves students from all three districts, and Marsh says the new structure will house about 400 students when it opens for the 2015-16 school year. It will replace Delta High School’s temporary location at Columbia Basin College’s Richland campus.