About

Location
Bridgewater Elementary school is located in Northfield, Minnesota on a 14-acre site on the south side of Northfield. It serves the neighborhood on Northfield’s southern side and the rural area south of Highway 19 and west of Highway 246.

Facility
Bridgewater School is designed with an earth theme. A large tiled, yellow and white sunflower greets you as you enter the building in the commons area.

Clouds are painted on the walls in the commons area and and as you enter two wings which branch off of the commons area. Multicolored carpet tiles replicating the colors of nature lead you through the media center and through the wings of the building.

  • Site - 14 acres
  • Square Footage – 85,000 square feet
  • Classrooms – 26 averaging 900 square feet
  • Students - 625 capacity
  • Music - 2,880 square feet
  • Art – 1,380 feet
  • Gymnasium - 80,000 square feet, six baskets
  • Cafeteria - 200 seats
  • Total Cost - $8.6 million, including all furnishings
  • Sculptor – Jeff Barber, Goodhue, MN
  • Cloud artist - Paulette Johnson, Minneapolis
  • Architects - Smiley, Glotter and Nyberg Architects, Minneapolis
  • Engineering Consultants - Larson Engineering, White Bear Lake; Ericksen Ellison and Associates, St. Paul
  • Construction Management – E & V Consultants and Construction Managers, Minneapolis
History
 Bridgewater was completed in the fall of 1998. In 1994, the school district formed a task force to determine the district’s future. That task force saw a need for a fourth elementary school and a new middle school. Both were presented to the public in November 1995 in a serial referendum. The elementary school was approved; the middle school was not. 

After looking at several potential sites for the new school, the land south of Jefferson Parkway, previously farmed by Gary and Donna Rock was chosen. In keeping with a tradition of naming schools based on geographic location, Bridgewater was selected because of the school’s proximity to the nearby township.

The organization of the elementary schools was examined and in 1995, the board approved a return to the neighborhood school concept after a community survey indicated public support for the move.

In November of 1995, voters approved a $17.5 million building program which included $8.6 million for the building of Bridgewater Elementary School to be completed by February 1997.

Bridgewater Elementary School • 401 Jefferson Parkway • Northfield, MN 55057 • p 507.664.3300 • f 507.664.3308 • bwinfo@nfld.k12.mn.us