Okoboji Elementary School Addition Update #1

First of all, I am wondering if you can have an “update” without first having said something of significance. Hmm.

As it has been advertised, the Okoboji Elementary School will be adding on ten classrooms over the course of this upcoming school year. I believe it has been well documented that over the past two years, our enrollment has increased, primarily at the elementary building. We believe there are several reasons as to why our enrollment has increased. First of all, we have a tremendous teaching staff in our schools. All are highly qualified and of even greater importance, they love kids and teaching. Secondly, our academic programming is just awesome. Thirdly, our Pre-K program is simply outstanding. We have such dedicated staff members who work with the students and nurture them into becoming great students.

This past school year (09-10) we had to increase the number of sections of Kindergarten from three to four. This upcoming fall (10-11) we will have another year of four sections of Kindergarten as well as four sections of first grade. Because of the increased number of sections, we have had to move some classes and specials into areas that should not house students. Thus, the need for more classrooms.

The overall plan is to add on ten classrooms. By adding on this many classrooms, it has given us many options for increased enrollment, grade realignment, movement of special classes, etc. If the enrollment continues to increase where we would need four sections all the way through, we’ll have plenty of room. If the number of kids returns to three sections, we can look at grade realignment when our large classes reach upper elementary. We’ll also be able to take some of our small group reading instruction out of storage areas and stage areas and put them in regular classrooms. These classrooms will be added onto the south side of the existing building.

We have already worked with the city in getting 7^th Street closed to traffic at all times, and we thank the Milford City Council for their work in making this happen. This will greatly increase the safety of the area as our hard surfaced playground area will be greatly diminished. In order to accommodate bus traffic, a new bus lane will be built in between the district office and the existing playground. This will also necessitate the moving of the Pre-K playground area to an area near the corner of our property on N Ave and 7^th St. A new staff parking lot will also be built to allow for easier parent delivery and pick-up of students before and after school.

Our hope is through this blog, we can keep all interested patrons of the district informed of the progress being made, including pictures and other updates. The plan is to open bids on July 29^th for the elementary addition. We hope to have students in the new part of the building by the start of the 2011-12 school year. We certainly believe that this goal is achievable. Please come back and visit this blog regularly for more updates as they become available. Thanks for your support of the Okoboji Community Schools.