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Our Community

Welcome Sign to Skykomish

Our school district is located in Skykomish, Washington, an old railroad and logging town. Nestled in the beautiful majestic Cascade Mountains and overlooking the amazing Skykomish River, one could not ask for a more beautiful, picturesque setting. The school is a small, rural K-12 school which serves the town of Skykomish as well as the local communities of Timberlane, Mill Town, Grotto, Baring and Index.

Points of Pride:

  • Extremely dedicated, well-trained staff
  • Full-day Kindergarten
  • Extra-curricular Programs
  • Strong community partnerships

Timeline

skykomish in 1893

1893

The first recorded school in Skykomish opened in 1893. The same year Great Northern Railway connected Sky to the outside world both east and west. It would be 16 years before Skykomish incorporated as a town.

skykomish in 1901

1901

When it came time to take education seriously in 1901, the town fathers chose to construct a remarkable schoolhouse. Just why this elegant edifice with Cape Dutch parapets reminiscent of hundred of buildings in South Africa seemed to fit Sky’s profile has been lost to history, but it must have been a clear message to students their learning was important when they entered the new building in 1902.

skykomish in 1909

1909

The “Skykomish Public Schools Souvenir Announcement” brochure published in the summer of 1909 appears to assure people far and wide just how up-to-date Skykomish School had become.

skykomish in 1914

1914

In 1914 a gymnasium was added with what appears at least as large a footprint as the original school building. Skykomish population peaked in the late 1920s during construction of the 8-mile New Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass and the requisite Power Transfer Sub-station that was built in Sky. Conflicting figures are listed in various accounts, but whether the number was 259 or 274 or 329, as one account proffers, in any case school enrollment peaked during that very busy time.

skykomish in 1930s

1930s

In the mid-1930s “Depression” era, funding from the Works Project Administration built a new Skykomish School using Civilian Conservation Corps labor and local materials. It opened in 1936. Skykomish Historical Society has found no photos of the original 1902 building removal process nor of construction of the new school, but reclaimed lumber from the gymnasium found its way into the still-in-use town hall, also a WPA/CCC project, and the six-panel doors from the original 1902 school are still the doors one uses to enter Skykomish Town Hall.​

oily sky class

2000

At the school, the video class was looking for a project and chose to document the oil under the town. The final result, a short film called An Oily Sky, was completed in 2000. The film won the President’s Environmental Award and the students who made it were invited to the White House to receive the Award from President George W. Bush personally. The video focused considerable attention on the oil beneath the town and is recognized as a catalytic agent in what has followed.

view of skykomish bridge

2006 - 2012

The 1936 school is still in use and believed to be the last WPA school building in Washington still in use as a school. It is a designated King County Historical Landmark. During the massive oil clean-up that dominated life in Sky between 2006 and 2012, the school remained a problem because unlike most other buildings in town with oil beneath them, this venerable pile could not be supported, lifted, moved, and returned into place in any practical way.​

restoration

Today

The Department of Ecology has established that cleanup requirements have been met and the final restoration of our historical landmark will continue. Ongoing monitoring will ensure the safety of students, personnel, and our community. 

Skykomish School District boundaries extend throughout the State Highway 2 Corridor from Baring to Stevens Pass.