Temporary Classrooms Readying for Occupancy
By Elementary Principal, Kathy Mollenkopf
 
You can’t miss them. As you drive around the east side of the school complex heading south to the elementary entrance, there they are. Seven modulars - each containing two classrooms - are approaching the final stages of installation and will soon be ready for occupancy.

These temporary classrooms have been set and secured, and the electrical work has been completed. Currently, the installation crew is working on the walkways and ramps which provide access from one modular to another. The modulars will also go through a specific inspection to meet established codes, and finally, they will be skirted to protect important connections and bracings underneath each modular. Mr. Geoff Waddles, building maintenance custodian, will make sure the modulars are clean and the floors are waxed prior to occupancy. Mr. Waddles and Mr. Shane Leeth, the district technology coordinator, have begun his preparations to make sure that the temporary classrooms are “connected” to the main building so that students and teachers will have necessary communication and the tools of technology which have become mainstays in the educational process.

Withstanding any unforeseen circumstances, the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students and their teachers are scheduled to move into the modular classrooms, which have been lovingly nicknamed, “The Village,” at the end of February. The moving process will take a couple days as teachers and students move desks and chairs, bookcases and file cabinets, and the plethora of smaller items that fill up classroom spaces. The students will still attend physical education, vocal and instrumental music, art, computer, and library in the main building as well as the use of restroom and cafeteria facilities.

No doubt, there will be an interruption to daily education during the couple of days spent moving to the temporary classrooms, but students will also have opportunity to be a cooperative part of the construction project. Education in “the Village” will present some challenges, but is will also present the opportunity for creative avenues to address those challenges. Nonetheless, the tradition of educational excellence will continue through the process.

If you have specific questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail at
Mollenkopf.Kathy@crestviewknights.com or at 419.749.9100, x106. I will be happy to speak with you.