The Mercer Island School District is inviting the community to the dedication and open house for the new Northwood Elementary from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 18 at the school, located at 4030 86th Ave. SE.

“We are looking forward to showing our community this spectacular new building and how it will benefit our students,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano. “We are grateful for the support our community gave to this project with their passage of the 2014 bond proposition.”

Northwood will be the fourth elementary school in the Mercer Island School District and will open for classes when the 2016-17 school year begins Aug. 31. Aimee Batliner-Gillette is principal and Jill Ravenscraft is associate principal.

Northwood will serve about 450 students pre-K through fifth grade. Attendance boundaries were redrawn to accommodate the school, the first new elementary to be constructed on Mercer Island in over 50 years.

Northwood is designed by Mahlum Architects of Seattle. Bayley Construction of Mercer Island is the general contractor. The building is 77,000 square feet and the site includes 20 general-purpose classrooms; two developmental preschool classrooms; eight shared learning areas; radiant floor heating in classrooms; library/kitchen/commons/administrative and counseling areas; and a gym that includes a high school-sized basketball court along with volleyball, badminton and various other school sports.

Parking on the east side of the site will accommodate 67 high school students during the school day, with after school use by Mary Wayte Pool, and event parking for various activities on the North Mercer Complex.

There will also be a dedicated bus loop off Southeast 40th Street, parking and student loading on the west side, frontage improvements on 86th Avenue Southeast and along the south side of Southeast 40th Street, restoration of the Madrone Grove at the corner of 86th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 40th Street, an 8,200-square-foot green roof and a 99.9 kilowatt-hour solar array.