Construction on Orchard Junior High began in 1961, and the school was completed in 1962. The dedication of Orchard took place on November 27, 1962. The building was constructed by Fraley & Leighton, and the architects that designed Orchard were Armstrong & Armstrong.

Orchard Junior High was considered to be a very modern, "high tech" building. Our two-way stage was very unusual at the time, and people marveled at the thought of an intercom system that could reach every room in the building at one time. The library originally had no glass or doors because the teachers and builders like the concept of the library being open to the students at all times. Being by the cafeteria, it got kind of noisy in the library, so the glass was installed. The noise was no longer a problem, but the room had ventilation problems. The room was far too hot, and students were falling asleep and fainting. Eventually, air conditioning was installed.

The roof of the building was not supposed to be flat, but too much money was spent on other things, so the builders opted to cut costs by putting a flat roof on. The roof has leaked since 1962, and has been rebuilt every few years.

There are some things that have changed about the building, and other features that the students have forgotten. For instance, rooms 108 and 109 were once one classroom. There is also a crawl space to access the underpart of the school, where students used to hide and cut class. Orchard had no lockers for six months, and there were no bells the first few years. The cafeteria even had apple and ice cream machines!

No matter what your opinion of Orchard might be now, it was once the "cool school". So when you think about Orchard, just take a minute to consider the fact that it was thought of as the best school in Wenatchee at the time.