Pine Middle School to Temporarily Shut Down 2026-27 | Local News

The Washoe County School Board has voted to approve a temporary closure of Pine Middle School as a part of the 2023 Facility Modernization Plan.

The school will be shut down during the 2026-2027 school year for the purpose of reconstructing a pre-k through 5th grade facility at that location.

“Tonight we presented the ultimate findings and recommendations basically for a variety of reasons,” said Adam Searcy, Chief Operating Officer of WCSD. “A traditional pre-k through 5th elementary school facility is recommended as best suited to be reconstructed on the current campuses.”

Searcy says this facility will serve Smithridge Elementary, Dodson, Duncan Glenn, Lemelson Stem Academy, and other schools in that area.

He tells us the next steps will be to return with design contracts and other necessities to prepare for reconstruction over the next few years.

In the meantime, Vaughn Middle School is currently being reconstructed and is expected to be done before the closure to allow students of Pine to be rezoned and moved to Vaughn.

The new elementary school would then open in 2028.

“The primary benefit of this new facility is multifaceted. It creates learning environments that are more welcoming and more physically conducive to better outcomes, better attention,” Searcy explains.

He says there’s also still an option to reconstruct the school into a pre-k through 8th grade facility. However, due to safety and social concerns from families and staff, that is not planned but it’s still in the air depending on community input during the designing process.