RENO, Nev. (KOLO) — The Washoe County School District held a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday morning at the new Stead Elementary School, a $55 million facility built to replace the original school that opened in 1958.
The ceremony took place at 926 Cloudburst Drive and included remarks from school and district leaders, followed by a public tour. Four current Stead Elementary students held the ribbon during the ceremonial cutting.
School built under facility modernization plan
Stead Elementary was among the first schools identified for rebuilding under the district’s Facility Modernization Plan, which the WCSD Board of Trustees approved in 2023. The Board of Trustees approved the Stead project in November 2024. Construction was completed in less than two years.
The new school was built near the previous school site and is designed to serve more than 700 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It features a STEAM lab, media center, collaborative learning spaces, enhanced classrooms, and an energy-efficient design.
Historic elements preserved
School leaders said several historic elements from the original building were incorporated into the new facility. A carved stone nameplate that was handcrafted and donated to the school decades ago was relocated to the exterior of the new building. The original dedication plaque from when the school first opened was also placed at the building’s entrance alongside a new dedication plaque.
Construction figures
WCSD Superintendent Tiffany McMaster said the project used 16,900 pipe fittings and six miles of waterline and mechanical piping. Board of Trustees President Adam Mayberry said approximately 1,400 cubic yards of concrete were poured for the school’s footprint and that the roofing material, if laid end to end in one-foot pieces, would stretch 12 miles. The campus includes 1,460 shrubs, more than 218 trees, 425 yards of playground bark, and 203 wooden doors among a total of 272 doors…