Buoyed by sponsor family donations and community support, to date topping $6.5 million in capital contributions, a new home for Cascades Academy is emerging amid a 21-acre natural park-like setting by the banks of the Deschutes River in Tumalo.
Work is progressing rapidly on environmentally-conscious 28,000 square foot school and 11,000 square foot gymnasium buildings on the campus, which features an innovative geothermal ground source heating system fed via some 4.5 miles of piping below the field.
Cascades Academy is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year as the region’s only independent private Pre-K-12 program, emphasizing college-preparatory academics and hands-on experiential learning in a close-knit school community featuring outdoor education and service-learning models.
The institution was founded in 2003 and opened with 61 students. Current enrolment is 145, but growth has been constrained in the currently cramped conditions at its existing NE Studio Road base, so school leaders are delighted at the prospect of expanding into custom-built facilities seen as an ideal environment to optimize educational goals.
The new campus has capacity for up to 225 students and will include two science labs, an art studio, library and technology facilities, as well as outdoor decks, a central courtyard and other learning/gathering spaces interspersed between upper and lower school wings. The project is expected to be complete this summer in time for the fall semester, set to accommodate a projected enrolment of 175 for the 2013-14 academic year with target class sizes of 16-18 students.
The academy has been designed with respect for the natural setting, close to Tumalo State Park, featuring ecologically sensitive modern architecture, green, sustainable and easily managed materials and native landscaping.
The project, designed by Hennebery Eddy Architects and being built by Bend’s CS Construction, was actually triggered through a sizeable donation from a Cascade Academy family which allowed the purchase of the land in 2007, and kick-started further fund-raising efforts led by the Board of Trustees to bring the vision to reality.
During a recent preview of the campus progress, Board of Trustees Chair Mark Stamler said, “We are extremely excited to lead a vigorous program with talented faculty in this fabulous new facility, which is a tribute to those who believed in the Cascades Academy Vision.
“We have received the hearts of the people who have invested in this vision and have gladly accepted the responsibility of stewardship in meeting the goals and passions of our donors, which is a cause we are committed to and take very seriously.
“We are finally able to control our own destiny in this new environment, which is a testament to the fact that dreams can come true because people had a leap of faith.”
