• Cleveland Modernization Planning & Design

  • Stay Informed

    Bond Update - Plans for the modernization of Cleveland, Jefferson, & Ida B. Wells High Schools move forward.
    Bond message icon

    View the March 2025 Bond update message from the district

    Cleveland Modernization Plan Approved

    CHS plan 3d rendering

    On May 7th, 2024, the PPS School Board approved the comprehensive plan for a new multi-story 320,000sqft Cleveland High School to be built on the existing 4-acre site. 

     

    The plan was developed through extensive community engagement, including six Comprehensive Planning Committee meetings, three Community Design Workshops, meetings with CHS teachers, staff and students, presentations to nearby Neighborhood Associations, and outreach to those groups and individuals that have been historically underserved and/or underrepresented. It also included a community wide survey (see below).  

     

    Funding for construction would need to come from a future School Improvement Bond. During construction, students and staff would relocate to the Marshall Campus on 92nd & Powell.

     

    View the CHS Comprehensive Plan Vol 1

    View the CHS Comprehensive Plan Vol 2

     

    View the CHS Comprehensive Plan Staff Report

    Cleveland Modernization Public Survey
    pie chart of survey results

    As part of the community engagement effort, PPS conducted a survey for the Cleveland Modernization Project. The survey asked which of two design options was favored for the modernization:

     

    Plan A – Build an all-new Cleveland High School.

    Plan B – Keep and renovate only the 1929 structure and build new facilities around it.

     

    A total of 1,413 people responded to the survey with 81% in support of building an all-new Cleveland High School. Current CHS and feeder school students made up 40% of respondents, and they overwhelmingly support an all-new building. The main reasons people cited were that all new construction provides better educational options for teachers and students and more outdoor open space for the school and community.

     

    Those who wanted to preserve the 1929 building expressed the importance of preserving historic buildings even though they pose some challenges for future use. Some expressed concern about what the loss of the historic building would mean for the neighborhood and the community. View the survey summary info-graphic.

    Cleveland Modernization Design Influences graphic flyer
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    View the Cleveland design influences flyer

    View the District Education Specifications for Comprehensive High Schools (Ed Specs)

    Cleveland Modernization Project History - Conceptual Master Planning in 2019 

    In late 2019, after a series of public meetings over a four-month period, a  Cleveland High School Conceptual Master Plan was completed as part of the planning effort for the 2020 Bond. The work was done through a Conceptual Master Planning Committee (CMPC), a group of school and community stakeholder representatives who worked together to help provide feedback for the Conceptual Cleveland Master Plan.  The conceptual master planning process helped determine each school’s overall program needs, site layout, and more accurately determine the cost estimates for historic modernization vs. the rebuilding of that school and helped PPS in the planning of future capital improvement bonds.

    This conceptual plan will be used as the starting point for the new Cleveland Comprehensive Plan, but the new Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) will not be restricted by those plans.

  • What Is Modernization?
    Modernization will completely reconfigure and update learning spaces with a focus on indoor environmental quality, sustainability and historic preservation. Full modernizations retain the historic character of the school while bringing those buildings up to code and concurrently creating a more modern learning environment. In the case of Cleveland it may be determined that a partial or complete rebuild might be the best approach. This decision will be determined during conceptual master planning.

  • Cleveland Modernization Design Team

    Mahlum is the design team for Cleveland Master Planning. Deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest, Mahlum creates spaces that express the culture, aspirations and identity of the communities they serve, distinctively honoring the character of each K-12 school they design. They designed the recently modernized Grant High School.

    Thank you voters

    Thank you voters for supporting the 2012, 2017 and 2020 Bonds. The Office of School Modernization is continuing the important work of rebuilding our aging schools, making them all safer, more sustainable and better equipped for 21st century learning.

  • Cleveland Modernization Timeline

    Planning and Design began in early fall of 2023 with the development of a Cleveland Comprehensive Plan. The Planning and Design phase will continue over the next two years.

    The 2020 Bond Program does not include funding to complete construction for the Cleveland High School and Ida B. Wells High School modernization projects. Money for the construction of those schools would need to come from a future school improvement bond.  Until that happens, there is no schedule for future construction. The timing of a future bond and what projects are included in it are decisions made by the PPS School Board.