There are more than 60,000 people who live in downtown Seattle, and an increasing number of those residents are school-aged kids. While there is one downtown high school (The Center School), elementary and middle-school students don’t have a neighborhood public school and must travel to schools on either Queen Anne or Capitol Hill. The Seattle School Board is working to change that, having submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Education to turn the former Federal Reserve Bank building on Second Avenue into the first elementary school serving downtown kids in 65 years.

The school board will be holding two public meetings in October (Wednesday 10/1 and Wednesday 10/15) to discuss the latest developments, and they are urging community members to show their support for the school by attending one or both of the meetings and using the public comment period to give feedback. For those unable to attend, comments can be submitted to the school board via e-mail at schoolboard@seattleschools.org. Both meetings will be held at the Seattle Public Schools headquarters at 2445 3rd Ave. S, from 4:15 – 8:00 p.m.