The Washington Chapter of the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) announced the Polished Apple, Merit, and People's Choice Awards recipients at their 2017 Conference in Tacoma, Washington. Hazel Wolf K-8 E-STEM School, located in Seattle, Washington, was recognized with the Polished Apple Award.

The Polished Apple Award is given to the project that best represents exemplary practice in the following areas of educational facility planning and design: responsiveness to program, innovative solutions, sustainable design strategies, adaptability to changes in educational delivery, positive aesthetics and materials use, and reinforcement of the surrounding community.

The distinguished jury of design and educational professionals reviewing this year's submittals wrote the following about Hazel Wolf "This is a learning environment that understands the boundlessness of knowledge and a site that celebrates and honors its namesake with dignity and grace, thanks to a group of designers who listened, engaged, and knew how to celebrate the spatial syntax of their neighborhood.