Nelson Elementary school is a one-story school for Bethel school District located adjacent to Frontier Junior High School and Graham Kapowsin High School. Three classroom wings are organized around a central core that contains the stage/music area that can be opened into the commons. An operable partition between the gym and commons can also be opened to accommodate larger performances. The building was designed to maximize its daylighting potential by elongating the building to the east and west, taking full advantage of direct north and south exposure as much as possible. A combination of interior lightshelves, exterior sunshades and clerestory windows provide the classrooms with ample and evenly distributed daylight. All playfields and most outdoor spaces have also been located on the southern face of the building to take advantage of sunlight and allow views of the mountain from the recreation areas. As part of the project, the southern portion of the site that was formerly farmland has been reclaimed as a restored wetland area complete with a public nature trail.