This history of Wing Luke Elementary School is taken from the second edition of Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, which includes histories of every school building used by the district since its formation around 1862. The original essay was written for the 2002 first edition by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, and updated for the 2024 edition by HistoryLink contributor Rita Cipalla.
Wing Luke
In 1914, the Seattle School District purchased a site in the Beacon View Addition that sat vacant for almost 50 years. In September 1962, the Van Asselt School Annex opened on the property with three portables to house students in grades K-3. As years went by, portables and grades were added. By 1966-1967 there were nine portables serving grades K-6. In September 1967, the school opened its doors as South Van Asselt School, totally independent of Van Asselt School. The next year it shifted to the team-teaching method, except for the kindergarten. Team A had two teachers for the 1st grade. Team B had three teachers for grades 2-3. Team C had three teachers for grades 4-6. The grades within the three teams then varied each academic year.
In 1969, the school was officially named after Wing Luke, Seattle’s first Asian American city council member. Born in Kwangtung Province in China, Luke came to the United States at age 6. He attended University Heights, Marshall (where he was president of the Boys Club), and Roosevelt (where he was student body president). At the time, Luke and a cousin were the only students of Chinese heritage at Roosevelt. Luke was a key player in many political causes in Seattle, including the civil rights movement and open housing. He promoted many Asian American cultural activities, fought to protect Pike Place Market, and helped preserve the original atmosphere of Pioneer Square. He was killed in an airplane crash in May 1965.
Dragons
During an open house at the portable school, a dragon made by 10-year-old John Tierney attracted the attention of visitors. It was suggested to the principal that the dragon would be an ideal symbol for the permanent school’s learning resource center. A dragon depicted by a 9-foot by 3-foot mosaic-tile mural was created by placing hundreds of tiles made by Wing Luke pupils. The project was supervised by Mary Wightman Bryant, a well-known Pacific Northwest mosaic artist.
A permanent Wing Luke School opened on an enlarged site in January 1971. The new building was constructed with a capacity of 400 students. It shared with Dearborn Park an “open concept” design to facilitate team-teaching and individualized instruction. The Luke family gave the school a brass seal, which was an enlargement of Wing Luke’s Chinese signature seal. The family also donated a mural for the learning resource center, a painting depicting the yin and yang, symbolically expressing Luke’s incorporation of the best of both Chinese and American cultures into a way of life, according to his sister Bettie.
All classrooms, excluding kindergarten, featured a mix of grade levels. The building was organized into pods shared by two classes, en- couraging team-teaching and a sense of community. Core academics were taught to groups of 6-18 children. In 2003, a childcare modular structure, site work, and landscaping were added. In 2005, portables were replaced with a new classroom wing that included a cafeteria, stage, and kitchen.
New and Improved
After being in use for more than four decades, the school was experiencing some major systems and structural challenges, and the district decided to replace it. In 2018, the one-story building and the 2005 addition were demolished, and the site prepared for construction, which began in 2019. During construction, the Old Van Asselt building was used as an interim site for Wing Luke students.
The new 76,000-square-foot building was constructed on the existing 6.87-acre site. The design consisted of three interconnected buildings: Building A housed the main entrance and administrative offices on the first floor with classrooms on the second, Building B accommodated a two-story classroom wing and library, and Building C included a commons/lunchroom, kitchen, stage, and gym. The school common areas can support 650 students, and the master plan includes a design that could accommodate a 150-student addition to increase classroom capacity from 500 to 650 when needed.
The design integrated the building and the grounds so that the learning environment flowed seamlessly from indoors to out. The school buildings included six classrooms for kindergarten or grade 1, 16 classrooms for grades 1-5, four special education classrooms, a resource room, art room, occupational/physical therapy space, music room, two early learning spaces, and four learning commons. A gym with a rock wall, library, lunchroom, offices, and small group learning areas completed the design. Outside areas included a natural turf ballfield, hard and soft play areas with play equipment, landscaping, new curbs and sidewalks, and new trees. A variety of sustainable features were incorporated into the school, including an open courtyard at the heart of the building, which provides daylighting and natural ventilation to the surrounding space. Rain gardens were installed to collect storm-water runoff.
The replacement school pays tribute to both the original school and its namesake Wing Luke. Large wooden beams from the old school were repurposed in the new building as benches, stairways, walls, and entryways. A graphic of Wing Luke’s signature seal was enlarged and screened-printed on one of the main hallways. Dragon imagery was incorporated into wall art and tiles. A large graphic design in the hallway duplicates the view seen from the school library, with artistic representations of Beacon Hill, Mount Rainier, and Lake Washington. On April 19, 2021, teachers and staff welcomed Wing Luke students to the new school building. A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony followed on August 24, 2021. The Mak Fai Lion Dance Team performed, and school principal Carol Mendoza gave welcoming remarks. Bettie Luke, the sister of Wing Luke, attended and spoke.
History
Van Asselt School Annex
Location: 39th Avenue S & S Benefit Street
Building: Portables
Site: 2.37 acres
1962: Opened in September
1967: Became independent school; renamed South Van Asselt School
1969: Officially named Wing Luke
School on February 26
1970: Closed in June
Wing Luke Elementary School
Location: 3701 S Kenyon Street
Building: 1-story brick
Architect: Fred Bassetti & Co.
Site: 6.4 acres
1971: Opened in June
2005: Existing building renovated with a three-story addition (CBCRA Tsang; Commercial Structures, Inc.)
2018: 1971 school and 2005 addition demolished
2019: School closed for construction; students relocated to Van Asselt as interim location
Wing Luke Elementary School
Locatiion: 3701 S Kenyon Street
Building: Concrete and steel with masonry venee
Architect: NAC Architecture
Site: 6.87 acres
2021: New school opened for classes April 19; ribbon cutting August 24
Wing Luke Elementary in 2023
Enrollment: 300
Address: 3701 S Kenyon Street
Nickname: Dragons
Configuration: K-5
Colors: Red and white
