Twelve anonymous donors have committed $1 million to provide Whitefish High School students with state-of-the-art performance and technology facilities at the reconstructed school.

The $19 million high school construction project has been a work in progress since voters approved a $14 million bond request in 2012.

Before the $1 million donation came in, the district had budgeted $558,000 to remodel existing music classrooms in the D wing. A media arts and multi-use space also would have been created but would have remained unfurnished until additional money was raised.

The recent donations now allow for a total D wing redesign that covers 12,000 square feet, of which 3,300 square feet will be dedicated to a multi-use performance room with retractable seating for 200. The project also includes a 2,300-square-foot music room and a media arts suite.

The redesign involved the expertise of structural and acoustic consultants on features such as sound-isolated practice rooms, lighting systems, a wiring infrastructure that allows for connectivity with the entire school and easy integration of continually changing technology. About $100,000 is slated for purchasing video and music equipment.

This is the second large-scale donation for the high school construction project.

In June 2013, the Iron Horse Foundation committed $1 million for an athletic facility that was completed last fall.

“This investment in our children and our staff of teachers is humbling, and perhaps equally inspiring, it’s an investment in our community,” Whitefish School District Superintendent Kate Orozco said.

Administrators plan to use the cutting-edge facilities to the fullest extent by expanding hands-on curriculum over the next four years and establishing dual credit opportunities, software certification and even a high school film festival by the 2017-18 school year.

The district has set a tentative timeline to phase in classes, teacher training and possibly hiring three full-time and two part-time teachers by the 2016-17 school year.

Suggested classes include design and drafting, computer programming, multimedia production, music theory, music technology, media communications, percussion techniques, classroom guitar and classes in directing and acting, among others. Visual arts classes are to be determined in the coming weeks.

“No other district in Montana will be able to offer their students and staff the opportunities in the performing arts, media arts and technology that Whitefish students will enjoy,” Whitefish High School Principal Kerry Drown said.

One district goal in creating such a comprehensive performing arts and technology program is student retention and increased enrollment. A larger enrollment would provide more state funding and a revenue source for hiring the additional teachers, according to Drown. Drown said he didn’t know yet what effect the new technology might have on the school’s technology budget.

Construction of the Performing Arts and Technology wing will begin in April and is estimated to be completed next fall, along with the rest of the new school.

The Whitefish Community Foundation has helped the district secure donations.

An additional $1.3 million is needed complete the project, which includes outfitting a second-floor computer science classroom.

From 2004 to 2013, enrollment at the school has decreased from 742 to 497 students, according to a Flathead County Statistical Report of Schools by the Flathead County Superintendent of Schools.

In 2013, 86 students living in Whitefish School District attended high schools outside their district. Of those 86 students, 57 attended Glacier or Flathead high schools, 13 attended Columbia Falls High School, 13 were home-schooled and three attended private school.

The district has planned a community tour of construction progress that will highlight recent developments at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 22.

 For more information, visit www.WSD44.org or call the high school at 862-8600.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].