New school pleases pupils, staff

OLD TOWN – Above the main entrance to the new Old Town Elementary School is a piece of stained glass, a gift from a staff member. In the lobby, a painting by John Leblanc depicts elementary schools that came before, while another by John Paul Alexander features elements of town history, from sawmills to the Veazie railroad.

More art is to come, including photographs of children and wildlife in the hallway outside the gym and the cafeteria. A large Mylar sculpture by Elizabeth Busch of Glenburn – known internationally for her quilting and sculpting – will hang from the library ceiling. And by design, the building is illuminated by as much natural light as possible.

After roughly seven years of planning, Old Town is enjoying its new elementary school.

“We had four elementary schools before,” explained principal Chris Avila. There was Herbert Gray, kindergarten to grade three; Jefferson Street, kindergarten to grade three; Herbert Sargent, kindergarten to grade five; and Helen Hunt, grades four and five.

Avila was principal for Herbert Sargent and Helen Hunt schools and is in his 28th year as a principal in the school system. Jeana Tuell was principal of Jefferson Street and Herbert Gray schools last year, and is now assistant principal at Old Town Elementary.

New construction was not the only option considered, Avila explained. There were evaluations and discussions of the school system in terms of structure, facility and program needs. Also considered were renovating or adding on to an existing school.

“The decision was to make one central elementary school,” Avila said. The process of combining the four schools was “a big task,” he said, adding that part of the new school’s strength is a result of all the planning that went into it.

Construction began in April 2002 and ended in mid-August of this year.

“We came in right on their heels,” Avila said, pointing out that the school opened on time. “It was amazing. I wondered about it at times.”

The 92,000-square-foot school off Stillwater Avenue is located behind the Old Town Hannaford store and sits on 18 acres of land purchased from the University of Maine. Total cost was a little more than $13 million, Avila said, with the state providing a around $10 million of that. PDT, an architectural firm in Portland formerly known as Portland Design Team, designed the school with considerable input from staff and town members.

“We really designed it based on teacher input and need,” Avila said. Designed “not only for now, but for the future,” the school can hold up to 600 pupils.

Currently 460 kindergarten through fifth-grade pupils attend classes of about 20 or fewer. Old Town Elementary has 75 staff members, including custodians, administrative, support and office personnel.

“We have 27 actual classrooms,” Avila said, with lower grades on the first floor, and three through five on the second. Four “communities” are designated within the school, so that pupils and staff can have a smaller community sense. Each community is color-coded – green, blue, red or yellow.

One of the goals in designing the school was to facilitate teacher cooperation and collaboration, Avila said. Classrooms have doors that open into neighboring rooms so that individual classes can combine and share a project or experience.

One source of pride is “having a gym available for all our students,” Avila said. The gym can seat the entire school and can open into the cafeteria – a room designed to seat and feed two classes at a time. It also has a stage for entertainment.

Another special resource, the library, is located at the center of the school by design, “so it’s kind of the heart of the school,” Avila said. Several parents and community volunteers helped to set it up.

“We have a librarian this year, which is new,” Avila said.

Other school resources include an art room and space for specialists to work with pupils. Previously, specialists had to work with children in the hallway. Each of the four community areas has a planning room – a quiet work area separate from teacher’s rooms and classrooms. There are reading recovery, speech and language, and physical and occupational therapy rooms.

Staff and pupils enjoy a music room with two small practice rooms and a general music room down the hall. Lockers of various sizes line a wall of the main music room so pupils may safely store their instruments. Nearly 90 percent of Old Town Elementary’s fourth- and fifth-graders are involved in some form of music – one of two bands, chorus or both, Avila said. Previously, pupils had to be bused to the high school to participate in music.

Computer labs are waiting for 20 laptops upstairs, and 20 more downstairs. Keyboarding skills will be taught to fourth- and fifth-graders, Avila said.

The principal said that school staff feel “really good” about working together, and pupils are very happy.

“I think things have gone very smoothly,” he said.

For information about the school, call Chris Avila at 827-1544, or e-mail pcavila@otsd.org.