Please return to this page for updates on our search for a new school building and location.
Posted 9/27/23
The PVS Board and the New Home Committee joyfully announce that we have purchased our new school building! On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, PVS purchased the building at 4650 S Macadam Ave, the future permanent site of the Portland Village School. After months of negotiations, inspections, and planning, we now own our building!
We have almost a year of construction before we move into our new school. In October, PVS will start the permitting process for the renovations. Construction is expected to start in winter 2024. Barring any issues, PVS expects to move into the building in mid-August 2024 and start the 2024/2025 school year at our new location.
This is a very exciting time for Portland Village School. We need your support, excitement, enthusiasm, and engagement. It will take our full Village community to get us into our forever home. We will need your help in fundraising. Costs are coming in high, and we will need to work together to make this new home project as wonderful as our children deserve. We will also need help preparing for the move and sharing our information about our new school building to our community. If you haven’t already, please share your skills and interests on our PVS Volunteer Form.
The PVS New Home Committee will host a community meeting in a few weeks to share out design plans, schedules, and answer questions. We look forward to seeing you there!
Posted 9/25/23
For those who were not able to attend Back to School Night last week Ian Terrell PVS board chair communicated some exciting news with attendees:
"Last winter we shared that we had signed a purchase and sale agreement on the building on S. Macadam. Over the past nine months we have been doing our due diligence to ensure the building would work for us. We have put an extraordinary amount of effort into inspecting the building, addressing the seismic and HVAC concerns, designing the layout, negotiating the price and construction costs, and confirming financing for the building. [on September 12th] the board voted to proceed with the purchase of the building, so we’re feeling very positive about what’s happening. We believe we should have the keys to the building by the end of September or mid-October. Once that happens, we’ll continue to get our permits in order and then we will begin construction this winter.
This has been a long road, and we still have quite a ways to go. Our current plan, barring any technical issues, is to move into the building in mid-August of 2024.
We’re really excited to give you more specifics. Once we have closed on the building we will make that announcement to everyone. We’re planning a big community update where we’ll share pictures and floor plans so stay tuned for details on that in the coming weeks. Right now, what’s ahead is a whole year of construction and planning and moving.
This is a very exciting time for Portland Village School! We need your support and excitement and enthusiasm and engagement - it will take our full Village community to get us into our forever home!
We will need your help in fundraising for elements of the building, such as the play areas and the move. Costs are coming in high, and we will need to work together to make this new home project as wonderful as our
children deserve. We will need community members to help prepare all the class materials and furniture in these current buildings to be moved into the new building. We will need help with getting things ready in the new building, such as grounds keeping and interiors.
We will also need your help to keep our community together through this transition. We’d love it if you could make friends in your class and around the school, and show up and participate in school events.
Stop by the office, scan the QR code and share with us your volunteer skills!
I know and I’ve seen that when this community comes together with all of our unique gifts, amazing things will happen. Thank you for your patience throughout this long process and thank you for being here tonight. We are
excited to share more news with you in the coming weeks! "
We are so excited for this next step and can't wait to share more once things are finalized!
PVS New Home Update
(posted 3/14/23)
The PVS Board and the New Home Committee met on Saturday for a retreat and reviewed the timeline to purchase and prepare the new building for our move. Architectural renderings and construction plans have begun, and we expect to close on the property this summer and begin construction in early fall of 2023. We had hoped to move into our new home during the next school year, but given the time needed for our purchase, construction, and move, the board determined this is not likely to be feasible. PVS is now planning to move into the new school building in June 2024, after the end of the next school year. PVS will remain in our current N. Delaware location through the 2023/2024 school year. We will begin the 2024/2025 school year at the new location at 4650 S Macadam Ave.
We hope to keep our students and community together through the move. The PVS Board continues to investigate options for transportation to the new school. We are reviewing bussing feasibility, apps to help facilitate car pooling, and before and after care options. The PVS Board will share the transportation options for the 2024/2025 school year no later than December 2023. We also encourage all families to submit their re-enrollment forms for next year, and help us to continue to plan for our future new home.
Posted January 12, 2023
Announcing PVS New Home Purchase!
The PVS Board is excited to announce that we have signed a purchase and sale agreement for a new school building located at 4650 S Macadam Ave.
Having already conducted an initial review of the property for suitability, just like in the closing of a home, we are now in a period of due diligence to ensure that our initial research is accurate and that this is the Portland Village School forever home. PVS is finalizing financing, conducting a variety of inspections and permit processes, and completing the purchase of the building. PVS is targeting a move in date in early 2024.
Background
In July 2021, PVS learned that our landlord is exercising the option of early lease termination for our current school home. Since then, the PVS Board has been working with our realtors to find an appropriate building for us to lease or purchase. The search has been exhaustive; our realtors reached out to hundreds of properties and the board reviewed numerous buildings. The Macadam location stood out for its size and modern amenities and it was already appropriately zoned for our occupancy. In December of 2022, PVS was able to extend the lease on our current building to at least December 2023, with the potential to extend to June 2024 to accommodate the time needed to build out our new home.
The Property
The property at 4650 S Macadam was built in 1996 and has 43,000 square feet (nearly double our current space!), with views of the Willamette River. It was previously utilized as corporate business space, but the building will be converted to suit our unique needs prior to our move in date. The building boasts modern amenities including central heating and air conditioning, and has plenty of outdoor space to convert to school play areas. There are a number of paths and nature areas for our students to explore on Park Walk, as well as nearby Willamette and Elizabeth Caruthers parks. In addition, there is plenty of on-site parking for our faculty, staff, and visitors.
Next Steps: PVS is now in a period of due diligence, similar to the closing of a new home. PVS is contracting with a local architectural firm to prepare plans to renovate the space to accommodate all of our classroom needs, movement spaces, additional restrooms, administrative offices, and food preparation areas as well as seismic review, permit processes, construction cost estimates, and financial analysis. PVS has time to assess if this is the right deal for us. All signs point to this being the best option for our new home. Please keep in mind that PVS does not officially own this property yet, so please refrain from attempting to access the new building.
The PVS Board is planning our next new home community meeting at the end of January to discuss the new property and address questions and concerns; please stay tuned for the announcement of that meeting.
Please submit all questions about the new home to the PVS board of directors by emailing [email protected].
Thank you for all of your patience during the process! We are honored to have your trust as we work to find the best new home for our beloved school. Together with your support, we can provide our unique public Waldorf education for many years to come.
Thank you,
Dr J. and The PVS Board
Posted 12/16/22
PVS New Home Update: N Delaware Lease Extension
What is happening?
Recently, the PVS Board approved extending the lease at our current N. Delaware location through at least December 2023. This means that PVS will start the 2023/2024 school year at our current location.
The PVS Board is actively negotiating to secure a new home location in the S Waterfront area. If negotiations continue to go in a positive direction, PVS expects to move to its new location sometime in early 2024. We will announce the location as soon as we are able to. We can’t wait to share it with you!
This is an exciting time for PVS. While our current home has served us well for 15 years, our excitement is growing as we consider the many ways a larger and more modern building will better meet the needs of our students and our program.
Background
In July 2021, PVS learned that our landlord is exercising the option of early lease termination for our current school home. PVS was scheduled to vacate our current buildings by July 1, 2023. The PVS Board are actively negotiating to secure a property, likely in the S Waterfront area. In the meantime, PVS has negotiated with our current landlord a six month extension to our lease. This additional lease time will allow PVS to remain at our N Delaware location through at least December 31, 2023. The agreement with our landlord will also allow us to extend our lease through spring of 2024, if necessary.
Next Steps
This lease extension gives PVS the time we will need to complete necessary improvements in our new home. This includes required seismic upgrades, redesigning spaces to fit our classroom and play needs, preparing for our move, investigating our bussing options, and obtaining all necessary occupancy permits from the city. The extension also allows us to start the FY 2023/2024 school year in our current, familiar space.
The PVS Board is planning our next community meeting in January 2023 to discuss the New Home planning process and address questions and concerns.
If you want to submit questions in advance of our next new home community meeting, please email:
Thank you for all of your patience during the process. We know it is an uneasy time to not have certainty about the new location just yet. All of us on the PVS board are taking this responsibility very seriously and we are honored to have your trust and your support as we work through this process. Together with your help, we can provide our public Waldorf education wherever we are, and for many years to come.
Warmly,
The PVS Board of Directors
Posted 11/17/22
PVS is working on a transition plan to a new home location. At this point the two possible locations we have are in the SW waterfront (John's Landing) area.
Our new home would:
- Allow us to continue as a double track K-8 program
- House all our students and staff in one newer building (vs. splitting us between two older buildings)
- Have classrooms, movement spaces, kitchen, and offices built for our needs (rather than carved out of closets, offices turned into classrooms etc.)
- Have classrooms with windows, updated HVAC, new plumbing, library space, improved special education space -and more!
Posted 8/25/22
New Home Update:
This week PVS met with a potential landlord to discuss what our program looks like and explore how we might be a match for each other's needs, we are continuing that conversation and moving onto possible next steps. We are also planning tours of two other buildings available for purchase! We are still in the process of exploring two additional options that we learned about through PVS parent recommendations. PVS is feeling hopeful about our recent meetings with our realtor team and will keep you posted about new updates.
If you have a possible location, please reach out to Ian and Dr. J.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Posted 5/25/22
New Home Update:
PVS is continuing the new home search. This week members of the PVS new home committee are meeting with the realtor team to discuss a possible location and our strategy for counter offering. In the meantime, additional searches with our realtors are ongoing and we continue a look for our new home.
Posted 2/24/22
Please see the New Home Search FAQ page
here
Posted 2/23/22
PVS is committed to finding a new home for our school community, we are optimistic and open minded in finding a new location for our school - and this search is ongoing.
Some members of the home committee members meet with our realtor team regularly - on a weekly or every other week basis. We have looked again at our critical minimums for space requirements, and have a list of some new possibilities that might or might not fit our needs. Our realtors have doubled down on calling and searching for locations that could work for PVS. This week select members of the new home committee will conduct some drive by evaluations of possible sites. Once we see these locations in person, we will have more information on the next steps in the process - we will keep you informed as we know more.
We are also in the process of compiling an FAQ document that will hopefully answer some of your questions. This is going to be added to our website - be on the lookout for more information next week on this addition to our website.
Found a possible site? Please email Dr. J and Tom Klein. We are forwarding any site information to our realtors and your suggestions will funnel into our screening process.
Letter to the PVS Community 1/24/22
Dear PVS Community,
In December we wrote to outline the process for next steps as we explore options for relocating our school. The timeline remains the same; we have to move out of our current location by July 1, 2023 because our landlords have given us notice. We shared our desire to be as transparent as possible throughout this process -- one which has many moving parts, as you can imagine. Moving a school as large as ours would be challenging even in the best of commercial real estate markets. We are one of the largest charter schools in Portland, with over 420 students.
Since we last wrote, and in the time since our listening session, we have learned that the only viable option identified thus far, the SW Raab Road site, is now pending to another buyer. Our understanding is that the buyer they have chosen does not need the additional zoning review that our school would need, which is another layer in our search process.
Our next steps will be to regroup with our realtors this week. Thankfully we have a very qualified team helping us undertake this search! Our New Home Committee has continued to work in the background as well and will be outlining additional next steps.
Please know that we are working very hard to explore all options for our school, and will continue to keep the community updated as we have any information to share.
Warmly,
The PVS Board of Directors, and Executive Director, Dr. J. Stackhouse
We'd love to hear from you.
Posted 1/15/22
Here is some background information about our New Home search:
Last summer we learned that our landlord is exercising the option of early lease termination for our current school home. This means PVS will need to vacate our current buildings by July 1, 2023. As those of you who have been at our school for a while know, we have been renting since our school opened and have contended with the possibility of having to move at multiple junctures. This time the building owners have officially given us our notice and we will need to find a new home in the very near future so that we have time to prepare it for opening for the 2023-2024 school year.
It is an exciting opportunity for us to find and develop a school building that meets our needs more completely and allows for expansion and growth of our programs. We are working to purchase a new home so that we can ensure that our school has a permanent location to grow and thrive.
To that end, our school administration and New Home Committee and Board of Directors contracted with Cushman Wakefield to find a new location as soon as we received our notice last summer. The work to locate a new home is ongoing. In recent weeks we have held a public Board of Directors meeting on this topic and advanced the conversation at our December Board of Directors meeting.
Please see our Board Of Directors page
here
