Veteran Spring Grove Kindergarten Teacher Julie Neff has been
busy hanging bulletin boards, arranging chairs and tables and
putting the final touches on her classroom in preparation for the
start of school.
Hollister – Veteran Spring Grove Kindergarten Teacher Julie Neff has been busy hanging bulletin boards, arranging chairs and tables and putting the final touches on her classroom in preparation for the start of school.
But unlike last year, she’s doing it in a brand new classroom thanks to a $3 million overhaul at the 31-year-old school.
“Everyone’s excited,” she said. “I think the overall spirit of the school will be increased.”
Twelve classrooms at the Spring Grove School have been replaced and the school this week wrapped up a major modernization project for the first time since the rural North County School District, which serves more than 500 students, was built in 1974.
Work on the project began the day after school ended last June with the demolition of 12 structures, mostly portable classrooms, and is nearly done, save some landscaping work, Spring Grove Principal Howard Chase said Wednesday.
The old classrooms, which teachers said were in poor condition, have been replaced with brand new portable units. Many of the old classrooms had mold problems and some even had holes in the floor, Chase said. In addition to the classrooms, a new district office and science building have also been completed. All of the construction projects were paid for with money from the school’s building fund.
The classrooms have new, more effective heating, cooling and ventilation system and modern communication systems that support phones and Internet connections, two things the old classrooms lacked.
Even though moving into the new classrooms, 16 in all, was a gargantuan enterprise and the project postponed the start of the school year by two weeks, Neff said it was well worth the wait. Spring Grove’s school year will be extended two weeks in order to make up the missed time.
“The old classrooms had really deteriorated,” Neff said. “This (new classroom) is luxury compared to where we just came from.”
Fellow second grade teacher Julie Beltramo agreed.
“I think that everyone will have a positive feeling about being here now,” she said.
Like many of the teachers, Principal Chase has high hopes for the new buildings.
“Your environment sets the stage for everything you do in school,” he said. “This will have a huge impact on not only how students feel, but also on their academics.”
Moving into the new classrooms went smoothly, which Chase credits to the teachers.
“I can’t say enough about how much the teachers have done,” he said. “They’ve gone that extra step 10 times over.”
Teachers worked hard this summer moving desks, chairs, bulletin boards and other classroom furniture out of the old buildings and then into the new ones. The Spring Grove Parent Teacher Organization also helped the project and subsequent transition into the new classrooms.
“They are one of the most helpful and supportive groups of parents I have ever worked with in my over 30 years in education,” Chase said.
And while the summer project is nearly completed, Chase is already planning the school’s next modernization project.
“It was time for those buildings to come down,” Chase said. “But we’re only half done as far as I’m concerned, our next goal is to modernize the other half of the school.”
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
