New primary school grand opening set for Aug. 15
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
When the kids head back to school on Sept. 5, the littlest ones in the district will be starting their school year in a brand new building.
After about 16 months of construction, Little Prairie Primary School will welcome students for the 2017-18 school year. The school was built after a successful 2015 referendum to address district-wide facility needs.
The new school will serve students in the district’s early childhood program through second grade. It’s on the grounds of Prairie View Elementary School, on Townline Road, which now will serve students in grades three to five.
The name for the new school came from the students at Doubek Elementary School last year, when they offered the School Board four ideas after a problem-based learning assignment. The students brainstormed naming ideas and voted on their favorite. Principal Lindsey Harris then presented the kids’ ideas and favorite to the School Board.
While the board debated on the name for a few months, and sought additional community input, in the end the board members chose Little Prairie to honor the students’ hard work.
The mascot for the new school is a lion. Harris said the new mascot was a staff decision because bringing over Douby the Dalmatian from Doubek Elementary wasn’t a good fit.
“We did have some hesitations with the change, because the kids are really fond of Douby, but we felt a new mascot would be the best choice,” she said.
The School District will have a grand opening event for the new school at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
School District Business Manager Kathy Zwirgzdas said while they are not quite done processing all the bills for the school, the total cost of the school was expected to come in between $13 million and $14 million.
“The final bidding process was about $14.6 million, but we’re coming in well under budget,” Zwirgzdas said. “We’re at the $12.8 million mark with processing the bills and we’re almost done with that.”
Zwirgzdas said the district is on track as construction wraps up.
“We haven’t had any major problems. A couple of rain delays that delayed the playground a bit and some damaged tables that we’re waiting on replacements for, but nothing’s come up that wasn’t easily resolved and there’s nothing overly looming at this time.
“We’re in good shape to get in at the end of the month and everything is should be on schedule for the kids and the families,” she continued.
“The teachers were able to get into the building starting yesterday (Monday),” Harris said. “We’re all super excited. All of their things were moved over from Doubek, so they’re looking at a lot of boxes and it’s sort of overwhelming at the moment, but it’s all good. These are wonderful challenges.”
Harris said the transition has been busy but, for the most part, the building administration and staff are settled into the new school.
Little Prairie Primary School includes the first SmartLab in the nation completely dedicated to primary-aged children, according to a press release from the School District. A SmartLab is a fully integrated and technology-driven environment that encourages personalized and engaged learning for students.
“The whole school was designed for the little ones,” Zwirgzdas said. “There was so much thought put into the building. From the sinks and chairs and tables being low enough for the kids to reach them to the cohesiveness of the building – it’s all about what they need to learn.”
Little Prairie Primary School was designed to reflect the East Troy community. Each wing of the school has a specific color scheme – including yellow, blue, green and teal – chosen to incorporate the building’s natural surroundings of sunshine, sky, grass and water. The large shared learning space represents the East Troy Town Square and the hallways reflect various streets in the city, according to a press release from the district.
“We are thrilled to have a building that strongly supports our constant focus on personalized student learning toward assisting us with our five C’s of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and content. I am extremely proud of this milestone for our children, staff and community,” Superintendent Chris Hibner stated in the release.
New drop off/pick up
Because Prairie View Elementary and Little Prairie Primary share a campus, drop-off and pick-up locations have been altered/added. Access to the schools is off of Townline Road.
Zwirgzdas said the district has a transportation map to let families know how the new system is going to work.
“The five to 10 minutes at the start and end of the school day is always congested for most schools,” she said. “It’s very hard to handle all those cars around those two times of the day, but we have a map for the parents and we hope there is enough space in that north parking lot for things to run smoothly.”
Parents will be able to see how the drop-off and pick-ups will work when they visit the school for the grand opening
“Come on out to the grand opening and see the beautiful building we’ve created for our little kids,” Zwirgzdas said. “We’re going to have tours to show you what it’s all about.”
Little Prairie Primary School is at 2109 Townline Road, East Troy. To learn more about the new school, visit www.easttroy.k12.wi.us.
