Washington Township unveils new Northview Middle and North Central's Loggan Fieldhouse
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Paul and Kathy Loggan's name.
Washington Township schools have seen many upgrades in recent years and now some of the district's biggest projects, including a brand new middle school and new high school athletic fields and facilities are nearing the finish line.The school district has made physical changes to every school in the district since 2018, all thanks to voters approving capital referendums in 2016 and 2020.
The district expects to cover the construction costs with around $470 million from those referendums.
The new Northview Middle School will open to students in the fall this year.
There are still many more changes to come at North Central High School’s campus. District officials estimate all projects will be completed by the summer of 2026.
Angela Britain-Smith, the director of operations for Washington Township told IndyStar that inflation over recent years has meant some projects have had to be adjusted.
“But overall we have stayed committed to the budgets we have put in place with the planning of the 2016 and 2020 referendums,” Britain-Smith said.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest changes coming to the district.
Northview Middle School
The largest new construction project in Washington Township is the new Northview Middle School at 91st Street and N. College Ave.
The building can hold up to 1,050 students and has two floors complete with two gyms, a “cafetorium” that can be used as the school’s main cafeteria and an auditorium for performances, various performing arts spaces, a health clinic, Project Lead the Way classrooms for STEM classes and MakerSpaces to facilitate more STEM learning.
The new campus also houses soccer fields, a football field, a cross-country course, tennis courts, a softball field and a baseball field.
Northview principal Thomas Hakim said the new school is already attracting interest and next year's upcoming 6th-grade class may be the school's largest yet with more than 300 students.
The building is split into two sides; one houses the academic classrooms and the other side the cafetorium, the gyms, and the band and orchestra classrooms.
Hakim said that the design will help with evening activities such as sporting events by allowing families to use just one side of the building.
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The school’s three grade levels have their own wing, along with a large open space for each grade that allows for collaboration between classrooms equipped with movable furniture.
“We want kids to be interacting and collaborating with each other,” Hakim told IndyStar. “Especially now in a post-pandemic world, these were kids that were elementary schoolers, and were shut out from a lot of those person-to-person interactions. So getting back to this idea that we can be in the space together, be present together, and give the teachers the opportunity to collaborate.”
The school also has an art room that comes with a full kiln for pottery projects.
One of the large main walls in the center of the building will display a large mural of the old Northview located at 8401 Westfield Blvd.
“Often when we open a new building, you're opening a full new school, but here we are transferring a school,” Hakim said.
Prospective families are invited to learn more about the district’s middle schools, and can tour the new Northview facility during their open house event on Sunday, Feb. 4th from 1-4 p.m.
North Central High School, Paul Loggan Fieldhouse
The new 91,500 square-foot fieldhouse attached to the west side of North Central’s main campus building is almost near completion but is already being used by students.
The Paul Loggan fieldhouse, dedicated to the school’s longtime athletic director who died in 2020 from COVID-19, features some of the most up-to-date athletic facilities.
The new facility houses four basketball courts, a six-lane track, a long jump, a pole vault pit, a wrestling room, two locker rooms and a new fitness room for weight lifting.
The space will also have new training rooms for school trainers, coaches' offices and multipurpose rooms to host events and other school functions.
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North Central athletic director Andy Elkins said the new fieldhouse is already being used by the students.
“Basically what this does is it gives us the added advantage to be able to start our workouts,” Elkins said. “Before our kids had to run in hallways and stretch in hallways, now the students feel like they have a home and that was the vision that Mr. Loggan had, which was to give the kids a home.”
Kathy Loggan, Paul Loggan’s wife, who works at the district’s new early learning center, said it’s an honor to have her husband's name on the building.
“He just loved kids and he was all about the student-athletes,” Loggan said. “It didn’t matter what walk of life they came from, it was always just about whatever was best for the kids. So to have his name on it and to have every kid in the township be able to use it is amazing.”
North Central plans to dedicate the fieldhouse sometime in March.
Early Learning Center
Another brand new facility for the township is the new Early Learning Center, which is connected to the district’s central office building.
The early learning center serves children between the ages of three to five as well as providing services for children with individual learning plans or special needs students.
The facility has 13 classrooms that together hold around 325 children. Certain classroom have been designed with special needs in mind with chairs that allow easier movement and special desks for children using wheelchairs.
There is a special sensory classroom equipped with interactive toys, as well as two playgrounds that are accessible for various degrees of mobility.
The center also has “calming rooms” — padded rooms for students with behavioral issues.
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A large multipurpose area where kids can ride bikes in bad weather doubles as a cafeteria.
The building, along with all of the district’s schools, has updated entrances to allow for tighter security.
Registration for families interested in using the center for next school year opens in February and can go to www.msdwt.k12.in.us/enroll.
Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.
Caroline’s reporting is made possible by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Take a peek inside Washington Township's new school facilities
