They say that everything old is new again, and while each generation of students seems to find anew Henry David Thoreau's "Walden Pond," lucky Kirkland elementary students are finding a whole new Henry David Thoreau Elementary School.
Although the 400 or so students actually got to move into the new school building at 8224 N.E. 138th St. in mid-May, just before the end of school, this September they are embarking on the first full year in the school. The new school was built next to the 1960s school it replaces on Finn Hill. When the new building was occupied last spring, the students were able to see the old one demolished.
"The kids enjoyed watching the machinery clawing away at the old structure," said Steve Roetcisoender, who is starting his third year as school principal.
The old building was just 41 years old, not one of the oldest in the district. But structural concerns, especially about its inability to withstand a serious earthquake, convinced the school board to replace it.
"It is warm and has a lodge-like feel," Roetcisoender said. "It is very much in harmony with the setting."
The school is just on the north side of Dixon Hill Park, so it looks out over trees on all sides.
We are looking forward to our first full year of school in our new building, and we are very grateful to the community for voting for the capital improve bond," Roetcisoender said. "It is a beautiful improvement. The spaces are much more varied inside. We have a concept called shared space - open areas, outside of classrooms, suitable for one-on-one, small group or large group instruction. Conference rooms between classrooms allow special instruction to be delivered closer to the classroom."
Other elements include better planning areas for teachers, which are designed as work spaces away from the classroom.
Roetcisoender explained that in many schools planning areas are in the classrooms where the small furniture used for students is pressed into service when teachers do their planning work before and after classes. That is a boon to the school's 22 certificated teachers and 15 support staff.
"The school is wired for computers, it is not an add-on," Roetcisoender added. "It is always a hassle to try to build a computer network in a building that is 40 or 50 years old."
Computers are not something one ordinarily associates with Thoreau, but the school comes by the name honestly.
"Originally the school was built in a wetlands area," Roetcisoender explained. "And they [the school board] felt the setting of the school was kind of in line with the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau."
The proximity to the wetlands resulted in a great number of frogs wandering across the school playground. That is why the school's teams are called (what else?) the Frogs.
The new school has 17 regular educational classrooms and three special purpose classrooms, including a music room and a science/art room. Roetcisoender is extremely pleased that the music room is within the school and "not a portable stuck out back." The art/science room has a tile floor and a ceramics kiln. Roetcisoender said messier projects can take place in that room because it is easier to clean up.
Also new to Thoreau is a cafeteria. Previously, students had to eat in the classrooms - an ongoing maintenance problem, especially keeping the carpets clean. The new cafeteria is also separate from the gym, so the school can hold an assembly at the same time gym classes are going on, which was not possible before.
