Sioux Falls To Tear Down, Rebuild Oldest School in District

The oldest school in the Sioux Falls District is set to meet the wrecking ball in the not so distant future.

Monday (June 10), the Sioux Falls School Board unanimously approved plans to tear down Whittier Middle School and rebuild it a short distance away.

The plan calls for the new school to be constructed just north of where it currently sits, with the main building now set to be built where the current athletic field is located on Third Street.

Sioux Falls School District

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In order to make room for the new school, the district will need to purchase 29 homes and one church in the neighborhood. The money to buy the properties is part of the district’s $190 million bond issue approved voters in 2018.

Another bond issue, likely in 2027 or 2028, will have to be approved by voters to actually construct the new school on the blocks-long open field between Third and Fourth streets that measures 9.4 acres.

Officials say the new school could be open for the 2030-31 academic year.

Whittier dates back to its days as an elementary school when it first opened more than 100 years ago, in 1923. It was later expanded to become a middle school.

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