New again
School just let out, and already South Pines Elementary School Principal Walt Clemons can’t wait for classes to begin again. Standing in the Central Valley school among cabinets still wrapped in plastic, loose wires, and rolls of carpet yet to be installed, Clemons sees halls full of laughing and smiling children.
The school, built in 1960, is nearing the end of a yearlong $5.4 million facelift. The building was last updated in 1974.
“They basically tore it down to concrete and bare walls, and built it back up,” Clemons said. “It’s been surreal.”
South Pines is the last of four schools to be remodeled using the remaining funds from the $78 million construction bond voters approved in 1998 to build two new high schools. The district received about $23 million in state matching funds for the high schools, which cost more than $70 million to build.
The district used the balance of the funds to remodel South Pines, McDonald and Adams elementaries, and Greenacres Middle School.
The South Pines project is on target to be completed before school starts in the fall.
District staff will begin moving back in this week from the school’s temporary location at the old University High School, also known as University Center.
“They’ll probably start moving some larger furniture Friday,” Clemons said. Teachers won’t start moving until later in the summer, he said.
But when they do, they’ll be pleasantly surprised.
All the classrooms have new carpet, new paint, and new furniture. Closets have been added for teachers to use, and cupboards for coats, hats and backpacks. Energy efficient lights, activated by motion and sound, were installed in the classrooms.
“When we started the design phase, we sat down and compiled a wish list of what we wanted,” Clemons said. Some things were taken off, most often for budget reasons.
“Things start to add up, you try to save whatever you can,” Clemons said. “We really tried to think of things that would make the teachers’ lives easier,” like more storage.
The most coveted thing on Clemons’ wish list was not the new front office, which is much larger and more open, but the construction of a multipurpose room.
Students previously ate lunch in the gym, and there was no place for the community or clubs and organizations to gather inside the building.
“It’s going to be nice for them to have a place to go,” Clemons said.
The multipurpose room is located off the gym, and has high ceilings with a lot of natural light and wood beams. It is open to both the north and south entrances of the school.
The gym also received an overhaul, with new flooring and a raised stage that will double as a music classroom.
A new staff room was created, as well as restrooms in both wings of the building, for students and teachers.
The previous staff room only accommodated about six people at a time. South Pines has a staff of more than 60.
“We had people eating in different parts of the building. There was no cohesiveness,” Clemons said.
The new teacher lounge has room for at least 30 people, and has a kitchenette with a sink, and other amenities. Locker space was also added for part-time playground supervisors and other helpers.
Like all the schools being remodeled, technology updates were also made to the building, including fiber-optic cable. The district hopes to eventually have all the buildings wired with the latest technology.
The parent drop-off and pickup area also was eparated from the buses.
Clemons hopes the neighbors around the school and the community will come and take a peek when the building is ready, sometime in September. The district is planning an open house and dedication ceremony, likely the week of Sept. 5. School starts Sept. 8.
“They can really see their tax dollars at work,” Clemons said. “It was a good school before, but functionality wise, it didn’t really create much unity. Now hopefully we’ll be able to get that back.”