Lacey LEAF Center breaks ground, targets fall 2027 opening
Construction has begun on the Lacey Education and Family Center, a North Thurston Public Schools project planned for the corner of Marvin and Steilacoom roads. The district says the center, known as the LEAF Center, is targeted to open in fall 2027.
The project broke ground in spring 2026, according to the school district. The district’s public information does not provide a more precise groundbreaking date, so spring is the most specific confirmed timing available.
For Lacey, the immediate change is the start of work on a planned education and family resource. The LEAF Center is not yet open or operational; the district’s fall 2027 date is an opening target rather than a confirmed completion date.
A planned community resource
North Thurston Public Schools describes the LEAF Center as a new community resource for local families. The project’s name identifies an education and family focus, while the available district material also refers to education, family-support and related services as part of what the center is expected to provide.
The published information does not include a full program list or operating plan. It also does not state how the center will be staffed, when individual services would begin or whether outside organizations will operate programs there. Those details remain separate from the verified construction and scheduling information.
The location gives the project a specific Lacey setting at Marvin and Steilacoom roads. North Thurston Public Schools, rather than the City of Lacey, is the institution reporting the groundbreaking, location and expected opening. The available district material does not establish that the city owns or funds the center.
Timeline overlaps with River Ridge work
The LEAF Center’s construction is moving forward as other school modernization work continues in the Lacey area. In its June 2026 family newsletter, North Thurston Public Schools said modernization work at River Ridge High School was continuing during summer 2026.
That River Ridge project is separate from the LEAF Center. The district lists several elements of the high school modernization: a theater, career and technical education space, food-service improvements, a turf football field and a rubberized track.
The district’s anticipated completion date for the River Ridge modernization is summer 2027. That places the expected end of the high school work shortly before the LEAF Center’s targeted fall 2027 opening, although the two projects have different purposes and schedules.
What Lacey families can expect next
The next known step for the LEAF Center is continued construction toward the fall 2027 target. The district has not released, in the available material, the project’s total cost, square footage or construction contractor.
Those omissions limit what can be concluded about the project’s size, public cost or construction schedule beyond the information the district has provided. The confirmed development is narrower: North Thurston Public Schools has begun work on a planned community resource at a named Lacey intersection and is aiming for an opening in fall 2027.
For residents tracking the project, the opening date and eventual services will be the next important milestones. Until the center is completed and the district provides more operating details, the practical impact for families is the addition of a facility under construction—not a resource currently available for use.
Sources
- Community Connections, North Thurston Public Schools
- June 2026 Family Newsletter, North Thurston Public Schools
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