Work has begun on a new high school for KIPP DC. The public charter school is relocating the school from the KIPP DC Anacostia campus to the site of the former Hamilton Center, at 1401 Brentwood Parkway NE, which DCPS turned over to KIPP after it closed the special-ed and special-needs schools there.
The project, estimated at $45 to $50 million, will be done in stages on the site, for which KIPP DC has a long-term lease from the District. For the 2014-2015 school year, KIPP DC high school students will occupy half of the former Hamilton School, which is being renovated for their use.
Simultaneously, construction of a new high school building will begin on the site, according to Lindsay Snow, KIPP DC real estate manager. KIPP DC is the developer; Whiting-Turner, contractor; Studios Architecture, designer.
The new school building, at 125,000 square feet, is expected to open for the 2015-2016 school years. It is aiming for LEED certification.
“We’re still working on the design,” said Snow. “It will be a state-of-the-art high school campus, with 40 classrooms and science laboratories.”
When the new school building is ready for occupancy, the former Hamilton School building will be demolished and the land turned into a multi-sport and track athletic field.
Snow said the new KIPP DC college preparatory academy, for grades 9 through 12th, allows KIPP DC to enlarge its high school division from the current 400 students to 1,000 students over the next several years.
The KIPP DC high school currently shares space on the Anacostia campus with preK through eighth grades, a total of 1,400 students including the high school. The relocation of the high school also enables KIPP DC to increase the number of students in the lower grades.
“We will add 100 students in preK to eighth grades next year and grow subsequently over time,” said Snow. “The new space opens the opportunity to further develop our academic and athletic programs.”