EDMONDS — For three decades, people have come to a building on 230th Street SW and 80th Place W. to start anew and get on the path to success.
Now, a Christian school that has bounced from place to place for more than a decade is doing the same.
When the Conquest drug and alcohol rehabilitation center moved out, Solomon Christian School moved in, and now calls the nearly 2.5 acres in Edmonds home.
For 11 years, the school has leased church and commercial space in Shoreline and Edmonds.
School officials found that the new site, which had been a live-in rehab center in some form since 1971, was ideal for their new venture: expanding to a year-round kindergarten- through 12th-grade boarding school.
"The building was already set up to do this," director Richard Lee said. "We believe God provided for our need here. We’ve been praying for this for many years."
The school has big plans for the space, Lee said. Students are mostly from this area, but about a third of them come from Spain, South Korea and other places around the world.
Since 1994, he said, all of the school’s six to eight graduates each year have gone on to attend a four-year university.
The school costs $6,500 a year for domestic students and $8,850 for international students. Room and board is extra, but local students may live at home.
Eventually, the school plans to expand with sister campuses overseas, Lee said. But, for now, it must get a nod from the Snohomish County hearing examiner. The school’s permission request will be reviewed on Jan. 13.
The site has two main buildings, one with classrooms and the other a dormitory. As a rehab center, it was set up for 45 residents, said Susan Scanlan of the Snohomish County planning and services division.
Scanlan said the county’s process entails making sure the school will fit in with the surrounding neighborhood. Scanlan said some neighbors have called to support the change.
Bob Caffee, 77, lives next door and said, "It looks like they’re sprucing the place up quite a bit." Caffee said some of the rehab center’s residents were rowdy at times but that the center was basically a good neighbor.
"It doesn’t bother me either way," he said. "Whether it’s a boarding school or a rehab center, as long as they don’t mess up the neighborhood, it’s OK by me."
Jim Snyder, 75, lives across the street and said the rehab center also never bothered him or his neighbors, but the school is probably a welcome change.
"It’s maybe a little more secure of an atmosphere for neighbors," Snyder said.
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
