On a frigid morning, construction crews worked to complete classrooms inside of Valparaiso’s newest elementary school.
Walking in the building’s interior skeletal framing, Building and Grounds Director Todd Van Keppel said crews would gradually finish the building over the next several months — adding framing, drywall and wiring.
The new elementary school — its newest building in more than two decades — is the first located south of U.S. 30, at 2450 Heavilin Road. It’s expected to be completed by the summer.
New features of the building will include a commons area, auditorium, full-sized gymnasium, four collaboration rooms for teachers to work with students and covered outdoor spaces for instruction, he said.
“We don’t really have space for outdoor learning (at other elementary schools),” Van Keppel said Thursday. “Classes can actually be held out here.”
The building may also get a name by the end of this month, according to Superintendent E. Ric Frataccia.
The school board may choose a name for the building during its Jan. 26 meeting. Currently, the list is narrowed to three: Heavilin, Vale, or Southview Elementary.
Work continues to increase Valparaiso High School by about 40,000 square feet in four additions. Once they are complete, the rest of the school will be reconstructed, with the total project set to be finished by August 2018.
Cooks Corners and Memorial Elementary schools are undergoing some improvements, including expanding classroom space, new gymnasiums, updated food service facilities and other areas. The goal is to increase capacity to 450 students by December 2017.
Eventually, all but one of the remaining elementary schools is to be improved. Hayes Leonard Elementary School will close when all of the improvements are finished.
The goal is that “the community feels comfortable and really has a space in every school,” said Van Keppel. “Hopefully, we hit that mark and everyone’s satisfied.”
The improvements are being funded through a $148 million capital projects referendum measure which passed in May 2015, as well as a $4.4 million general fund referendum measure that lasts for seven years.
The district has several aims with the projects: updating classroom space, improving athletic facilities, upgrading technology, and designing secure building entrances. With the elementary schools, the idea is to make the facilities as consistent as possible.
The construction program also has kicked off a discussion of redistricting to balance the populations at the elementary and middle schools.
The board approved the district’s redistricting plans at a meeting last month. A plan for staffing the new elementary school is also in place, Frataccia said.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us. There’s a lot of troop movement that is about to occur,” he said. “We are really looking forward to July 2018. The big organizational changes should be over by then.”
Twitter: @meredithcolias
