Reed site elementary school rendering.
The County Board approved on Nov. 17 a new elementary school for up to 732 students at the Reed site, 1644 N. McKinley Road, in the Westover neighborhood.
The board voted unanimously to approve a use permit amendment for Arlington Public Schools to renovate and expand the existing Reed School/Westover Library to create a neighborhood elementary school. The project is part of APS’s ongoing effort to meet continued growth in student enrollment.
The School Board has approved a budget not to exceed $55 million for the new school, funded by voter-approved bonds. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2019, and the new school is scheduled to open in time for the 2021-22 school year.
The approved plan included modifications of the Zoning Ordinance requirements for height, setbacks and parking. The new school will include two-and-four story heights, for a total of 112,919 square feet of floor space.
The addition will include school administrative offices, classrooms, a gymnasium, kitchen, cafeteria, teacher support areas and other building support spaces. The renovated areas will include new music/art rooms, a library, classrooms, teacher support areas and other building support spaces.
Building design features include:
A universally accessible civic entrance plaza in front of the main school entrance
A multi-purpose gymnasium that will replace the small existing gym
Extensive renovations of the two-story portion of the existing building
Preservation of 159 trees
Reconfiguration and consolidation of the existing playground and two full-sized basketball courts into a play area on the northeast side of the school. The new play area will have one full-sized basketball court, a smaller court with one basketball hoop, an updated playground area and a tree-shaded lawn area.
Retention of the existing treed area in the northwest section of the open space, its playground and play area as it is.
Retention of the existing athletic fields as they are.
Expansion of existing parking lots on McKinley Road/18th Street N. and N. Madison Street/18th Street N., for a total of 124 on-site parking spaces.
Addition of on-site parent pick-up and drop-off lane within the McKinley Road/18th Street N. parking lot.
Upgrade of landscape and stormwater management facilities for the playground and fields.
The original Walter Reed Elementary School was built in 1938. It closed in 1984 and in July 2007, the County Board approved a use permit to build an addition to the former school and a new branch of the public library. The existing building housed The Children’s School and Integration Station program until June 2018, and has served as the interim home for the Stratford Program since July 2018.