Students Lead Groundbreaking for New High School

Before the shovels turned fresh dirt on the site of the New High School, six students from across the district welcomed guests, offered a land acknowledgement and shared their hopes for the future of the school.

“This school – this patient, hard-won, long-awaited beginning – will do what all great schools do: It will outlast us. It will hold voices we haven't heard yet. It will ask questions we don't know to ask. It will build people who will build things we cannot imagine,” said Mudra Machewad, a 10th grade Skyline High School student. Machewad read a spoken word poem in recognition of the groundbreaking along with five middle school students: Hyorin L., sixth grade, Pine Lake Middle School; Nathan S., sixth grade, Maywood Middle School, Kanon W., eighth grade, Issaquah Middle School; Milan O., eighth grade, Beaver Lake Middle School; and Anika L., eighth grade, Pacific Cascade Middle School.

“Here is the question no textbook will ask you – the one that shows up for every student at some point: Can I do this? Will I be ready? Will I have what I need?” Nathan said, continuing the poem. “This school does not promise easy answers. It promises something more lasting: The ability to keep asking, to keep growing, and to keep becoming ready.”

Due to site constraints and active construction, a limited number of students, families, staff and community members were invited to help the Issaquah School Board mark the occasion on the morning of April 24, 2026. We anticipate inviting the whole community to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the New High School in the fall of 2027. The new building will help ease overcrowding at the high school level.

“Today feels meaningful in a way that’s hard to fully capture in words alone,” said A.J. Taylor, School Board President. “Not because of the ceremony itself, but because of what this moment represents for our students, our families and this entire community. For many of you, this has been years in the making and part of a long journey to get here.”

For the full article including remarks from Superintendent Heather Tow-Yick and the student spoken word poem, visit our news section.

For regular updates about the project, including impacts to traffic and adjacent neighborhoods, visit the project page on our website and click on the "Community Impacts" tab.

Members of the School Board and students use ceremonial shovels to turn over the dirt, marking the official start of construction at the New High School.

 

Issaquah School District students and leaders share reflections and hopes for the future during the New High School groundbreaking on April 24, 2026.