Construction workers at the TT Minor School campus were still painting and moving furniture throughout the recently renovated building in late August for Wednesday, September 7th’s first day of school. It will be a big day for the campus for more than just the start of classes. TT Minor is home to a Seattle Public School, again.

“The first time I came to visit, TT Minor was a half-empty elementary school that was the following year closed by the Seattle School Board in a very different environment in our city and a very different place for our public schools,” Sen. Jamie Pedersen said last week in a ribbon cutting to celebrate the reopening of the campus. Pedersen said the reopening is a symbol of the “dramatic growth that we have made in Seattle in our public schools over the past few years” as a “remarkable number of people voting with their feet,” sending their children to be part of the city’s public education.

Thanks to approval of a 2013 school construction levy, TT Minor’s ribbon cutting was part of five celebrations across the district as the 2016-2017 school year ramps up.

Even with the ceremony, there will be work left to complete before the first bell.

“We will be juggling punch-list items (after school starts),” said Paul Wight, project manager for renovations to the school during a tour of the overhauled campus.

While construction projects always have challenges, Wight said — this one included a window strike — it is still on schedule and on budget. The larger work items will be done before the first day of classes, he told CHS, adding that it’s normal to have a few small projects left when school starts. “It always comes down to this final push,” he said.

The students that will be walking down the freshly painted halls and sitting in new chairs on that first day are immigrants and refugees, some of whom have only been in Seattle for a few months.

TT Minor at Union Street and 18th Ave has seen a variety of students since it first opened in 1890. After being closed for more than a year as Seattle Schools tightened its belt and closed campuses during the latest economic downturn, Hamlin Robinson, a school for children with dyslexia and other language difficulties, secured a lease for the campus from the district. TT Minor closed after the 2008-2009 school year during districtwide budget cuts. The private school paid $104,400 and helped upgrade some of the infrastructure during its stay before having to relocate when the district decided it was time to put the Central District campus back to work again.

With the start of the 2016-2017 school year, TT Minor is back to being a public school again, welcoming Seattle World School students in grades 6 through 12.

The purpose of the Seattle World School, one of a handful of World Schools across the nation, is to get students from foreign countries caught up. It is difficult for them to succeed in a traditional high school when English isn’t their first language, Wight said.

“What you’re doing here is actually a revolutionary act,” Sen. Pramila Jayapal said about the school at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “I know it might not seem that way but to actually think about the role of culture, of language, of whole self and identity, in a community where that maybe hasn’t always been the case… I think is revolutionary.”

“We don’t have to take away the language that you come with. We can celebrate it,” Jayapal said.

The capacity of the World School is 360 students; 262 students are registered for the first day, which is about 40 more students that usual.

Principal Concie Pedroza is looking forward to having a permanent space. Her school was most recently located in the Miller Park neighborhood on the Meany campus, after regular moves in the past 30 years. The Meany campus is also undergoing a significant overhaul with the goal of reopening as Capitol Hill’s middle school in 2017.

Starting from scratch, Capitol Hill’s middle school set to re-open in 2017

“The teachers are so excited they are getting a permanent home. … They deserve it,” World School’s Pedroza said.

The decision to move Seattle World School into TT Minor was met with some controversy, including an appeal filed by community members with concerns about perceived environmental hazards. School board member Dr. Stephan Blanford said he hopes that people who were against the project will see the benefit of the permanent, central location for students who live throughout the city.

Renovations and additions to the school included a new commons area with a multi-purpose room, stage and kitchen; new science and computer labs; remodeled classrooms; upgraded electrical, plumbing, heating, fire safety, security, power and technology systems; and a health clinic for students and family members.

“That’s a huge benefit,” Blanford said, about family access to the clinic.

The health clinic, which offers medical and dental care provided by International Community Health Services, is also important, Wight said, because it introduces families to the intricacies of the nation’s health care system.

The $13 million project to prepare TT Minor for its new life was funded by the Building Excellence IV Capital Levy approved by Seattle voters in 2013. Construction began in the summer of 2015. 4,500 square feet was added to the building.

The original TT Minor School was torn down and replaced in 1941, and an addition was built in 1960.

Seattle World School originally started in 1980 as the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center, which provided basic orientation to English and academic skills, according to the Friends of the Seattle World School website. The high school track began in 2011. Last year it received high school accreditation from the state and graduated its first class. Students can now remain with Seattle World School through graduation or transfer to another school after passing exams.