EVERETT — The city’s newest school, Jackson Elementary, welcomes students for the first day of classes tomorrow as teachers have been preparing their classrooms after departing the old building that was demolished after the last day of classes on June 15.
Jackson Elementary opens the 2026-27 school year Wednesday, September 2, after the Everett Public Schools and Everett Education Association agreed to a new collective bargaining contract last week, avoiding a potential strike and delay for the start of classes. Dr. Ian Saltzman, EPS Superintendent, tells the EverettPost.com that the new labor contract with the union was the result of “great collaboration with the teachers.”
The new Jackson Elementary was built with a steel frame making it “seismically superior to the old building”, according to Darcy Walker, Director of Capital Projects for EPS. Walker tells the EverettPost.com, “We’re always thinking about taxpayer dollars. This building is going to be here a long time.”
EPS says the new building provides an opportunity to create a modern school designed around today’s educational needs rather than continuing to retrofit an aging facility. The new Jackson Elementary will be more efficient with heating and cooling. It will also be featured in November for an international conference of architects and contractors who focus on building K-12 schools, called Association for Learning Environments. The group’s website, A4LE.org, says they focus on recognizing students as the ultimate beneficiaries of our work; demonstrated when planners, designers, builders, and school systems think first about the needs of students. A4LE is holding its international conference in Seattle Nov. 4-7 and attendees will see the new Jackson Elementary School to showcase its features for the educational building industry.
Another improvement EPS officials are welcoming is better traffic circulation so buses and parents aren’t clogging the neighborhood streets around the school at drop-off and pick-up, reducing the morning and afternoon road congestion for neighbors.
Jackson Elementary is still a work in progress with the final demolition of the defunct building yet to be completed and the second phase of the new elementary school waiting to start. The second phase, according to EPS officials, includes a new gymnasium and driveway along 3700 Federal Ave. expected to be completed in late spring or summer 2027. A covered playground structure is also a few months away from being renovated with completion expected fall 2026.
EPS says the new school’s interior design features are tied in to the school’s identity with salmon because of its proximity to nearby Pigeon Creek, a salmon bearing stream. Jackson Elementary’s mascot and nickname are The Silvers, in recognition of the coho salmon species, (Oncorhynchus kisutch).
The following picture shows the staircase at the heart of the new building with stair steps designed to replicate the look of pebbles in a salmon bearing stream, illustrating how salmon swim upstream. The sitting area beneath the stairs, according to JES staff, is referred to as ‘The Cove’ to continue the aquatic theme for the school.
In this picture, EPS staff explain, the lights were designed to mimic the shape of salmon navigating the water as they swim.
The new Jackson Elementary school cost $54.44 million to build and was paid for from voter-approved funding in the district’s 2022 Capital Levy. The old school building was originally built in 1948.
