Submitted by the Shaw School District

After purchasing land over twenty years ago, the Shaw Island School District Board of Directors, Superintendent Kari McVeigh, along with the Teacher Housing Finance Committee and many supportive Shaw islanders, broke ground for construction of two new homes on July 26 at 2 p.m.

The project gained traction a mere 24 months ago with the district formulating an action plan. A fundraising committee was formed, local architectural firm Prentiss Balance Wickline was engaged, and design workshops were held for community input. The superintendent said, “The Shaw community rallied around the idea of building teacher housing. Affordable housing is an issue across the islands, but on Shaw there is basically zero availability, affordable or otherwise.”

In a true public/private partnership, using both school district funds and private philanthropy, the Teacher Housing Project has raised just shy of $1 million for the estimated $1.2 million dollar project.