The Wauwatosa School District has completed $124.9 million in facilities projects at several schools

Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·1 min read
Principal Mike Heun and students Jonas, Max, Fitz, Ben, and Ruby (last names not provided) cut the ribbon at the Wilson Elementary and WSTEM ribbon cutting ceremony held on Wednesday, June 8.
Principal Mike Heun and students Jonas, Max, Fitz, Ben, and Ruby (last names not provided) cut the ribbon at the Wilson Elementary and WSTEM ribbon cutting ceremony held on Wednesday, June 8.

More than $124 million of facilities projects — heavily focused on four elementary schools — have been completed in the Wauwatosa School District as part of a referendum voters approved in 2018.

Underwood and McKinley elementary schools were torn down and rebuilt, while Lincoln and Wilson/WSTEM elementary schools were given major renovations, according to Superintendent Demond Means.

Projects for Wilson/WSTEM Elementary and McKinley were completed in September 2021 while the projects for Lincoln and Underwood were completed in fall 2020. Wilson celebrated completion of the work with a June 8 ribbon-cutting. Celebratory events were held June 2, 3 and 4 for Lincoln, Underwood and McKinley Elementary Schools, respectively.

"Due to the pandemic, we were unable to safely hold in-person celebrations when the buildings initially opened," explained district communications coordinator Sarah Frittitta in an email. "However, we felt it was important to hold ribbon cutting and open house events to open the buildings up for the community when it was safe to do so — even if it had to be months after the buildings were open for students and staff."

All four schools incorporate design features that include a discovery lab, information media center, breakout spaces, an improved gymnasium, a community room, outdoor learning spaces, universally designed playgrounds, improved pickup and dropoff lanes, improved energy efficiency and increased natural lighting.

The district's other schools received safety and security upgrades, building maintenance and HVAC system upgrades, classroom updates and ADA accessibility upgrades.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wauwatosa Schools complete $124.9 million in facilities upgrades