West Seattle Catholic School Unveils New Roof, Fencing After Summer Overhaul

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School will hold a ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremony on September 2 at its campus at the southwest corner of 34th and Myrtle in West Seattle, marking the end of a summer-long construction project that replaced the roof, windows, and perimeter fencing at the 64-year-old school.

The project, first announced by the school as a summer of construction, ran from June 13 to September 4, according to West Seattle Blog. Standard construction hours ran weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. while parish services continued uninterrupted, per the same outlet's earlier report. The upgrades included a new roof and new windows alongside the added perimeter fencing, giving the campus what the school describes as updated space designed to inspire learning, leadership, service, and prayer.

Who Backed the Overhaul

The campus transformation drew support from several partners: the Archdiocese of Seattle's Office for Catholic Schools, the Fulcrum Foundation, and homebuilder Shea Homes all backed the effort, while Knipp Contracting and Knipp Construction supplied the crews that carried out the work, per the West Seattle Blog report on the ribbon-cutting announcement.

Shea Homes has an established philanthropic relationship with the Fulcrum Foundation, the Seattle-based organization that funds major facility overhauls across Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle. The homebuilder previously transformed four Western Washington Catholic schools during the summer of 2024, according to the foundation. Beyond capital projects, the foundation also funds leadership development for school administrators — last year it awarded a grant to an Our Lady of Guadalupe educator to attend the Remick Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame, illustrating a relationship that extends well past roofs and windows.

A 64-Year-Old Campus Built On Solid Ground

Our Lady of Guadalupe School was constructed in 1962, designed by the Seattle architectural firm Johnston-Campanella as one of the first pre-stressed concrete school buildings in West Seattle, according to research from Docomomo WEWA. The school sits atop the highest geographic point in Seattle. Its parent parish was established two years earlier, in 1960, by Archbishop Thomas A. Connolly out of sections of Holy Rosary and Holy Family parishes, with parish operations initially convening at Mount St. Vincent before permanent facilities were built, per the school's own historical account.

The Archdiocese of Seattle oversees 72 Catholic schools across Western Washington, serving more than 20,000 students across 61 elementary schools and 11 high schools, according to Finalsite. The archdiocese spans 143 parishes stretching from Canada to the Oregon border. For the 2026-2027 school year, Our Lady of Guadalupe uses a two-tier tuition structure offering lower rates to active parish families alongside need-based grants co-funded by the Fulcrum Foundation, with annual tuition grant applications for both OLG and the foundation closing December 31.

Part Of A Bigger West Seattle School Wave

The OLG ceremony lands amid a broader wave of school facility unveilings across West Seattle as the academic year approaches. Alki Elementary held its own ribbon-cutting on the same day the West Seattle Blog reported the OLG event, celebrating an 80,000-square-foot, $67 million replacement facility funded by Seattle's voter-approved Building Excellence V capital levy and designed by Mahlum Architects in collaboration with the Duwamish Tribe, according to Westside Seattle. The rebuilt Alki campus can accommodate up to 542 students and enrolled more than 400 for the 2026-2027 year, a 50% jump over the prior year as the school moved out of temporary quarters at Schmitz Park Elementary.

Seattle Public Schools set its own 2026-2027 academic year to begin September 2 — the same date as the OLG ribbon-cutting — amid late-August labor negotiations between the district and the Seattle Education Association, with district and union leaders working to avert a possible strike vote on the eve of the school year, the West Seattle Blog reported. While Alki's rebuild leaned on a voter-approved municipal levy, Our Lady of Guadalupe's renovation depended on philanthropic partnerships, a distinction that underscores the different paths public and private schools in West Seattle are taking to modernize aging or growing facilities ahead of the new year.