Building Toward A Better Education

The new construction happening at the Polson High School is picking up speed and is on schedule to be finished this summer. After finishing up on the other schools in the district, SWANK Enterprise, the contractors, have been working on PHS since the end of last school year. With school starting and summer ending, SWANK Enterprise has been at it for months now and progress has been steady. The construction team is working to build and improve many different parts of PHS. 

Sean Elser, who teaches the College and Career Readiness states, “SWANK Enterprise is doing an amazing job. I think the administration at Polson High School and the entire district has a great handle on things, and I think it's going very smoothly.” Elser has had very minimal interruptions with construction, and it seems most of the school district agrees. 

High school Junior Amy Thoft had similar excitement. However, she is unhappy with the changes of art style in new additions such as the revamp of the library. “I am upset with the changes to the library. I understand that we want it to be cleaner, but I hate how we're going away from all the warm colors to the cool gray and whites and some not very colorful blues.” However, Mrs. Ellis, PHS’s librarian, wants the libary to have a bright, modern look. 

Staff and students have had to be patient with some disruptions and distractions from construction. Currently many water pipes are closed throughout the school making certain water fountains unavailable. Some classes have had to move outside into a MOD building, where the internet is spotty.

SWANK Enterprises has planned for several new additions, including 14 new classrooms and a new welding shop, totaling 26,000 square feet. Head of Construction, Monte Moultray, explained by the end of this school year there will be new bathrooms on the first and second floor, a new kitchen downstairs completed, new flooring in the library area, and new doors for the main entrance. 

Additionally, there will be new flooring when you first walk into the school. The classrooms will be bigger and include natural lighting. 

Construction in general has been on time and may even be ahead of schedule according to Moultray. SWANK Enterprises plans to be finished by early September 2026 at the latest.