The new Gibsons Elementary School is still missing some window trim, baseboards and other finishing touches, but it’s about 90 per cent complete now, according to principal Deborah Luporini.
“There are still a number of deficiencies, but they are minor, and they are being addressed,” Luporini said.
The new school looks far from finished on the outside with a landscape of gravel, dirt, rocks and a string of fences meant to keep students safe while excavators and compactors work outside.
Luporini expects the landscape work to continue into the spring of 2015. The work on the interior of the school should be completed within the next two months.
The school hopes to have a grand opening with the community in February.
While the construction scene dominates the outside of the school, once inside, soft wood tones and glass features meet to create well lit, welcoming spaces for students to learn, play and socialize.
Moveable walls make collaborative learning easy and the new classrooms are filled with thoughtful elements like wheeled, folding tables, rolling bookcases and retractable black boards.
“That way the teachers can move things around to make the best use of the space,” Luporini said.
And the classroom space is bigger than most. Classrooms are generally about 78 square metres in size, but the Gibsons Elementary classrooms are all between 85 and 91 square metres.
Classrooms are also equipped with sensors that turn off the lights when students leave, heated floors and individual heat controls, which Luporini noted the teachers appreciate.
Another interesting element that had students and parents talking at first is the co-ed bathroom set up on each floor of the school. The bathrooms are equipped with individual private stalls and a circular community hand washing station that can be easily seen from the hallway.
The layout, Luporini said, is meant to help kids feel safer at school.
“We heard from some people that students were not feeling safe in the bathrooms because it’s a place that’s generally out of the way and some students were even avoiding going to the bathroom for that reason,” Luporini said, noting students are used to the new co-ed bathrooms now and there haven’t been any issues.
The new bathrooms are an example of what Luporini calls “publicly private” spaces. Large glass windows into each classroom and the gym also classify them as “publicly private,” Luporini said.
The music room is equipped with a floor to ceiling garage door that can be opened to make use of what will eventually be an amphitheatre outside, and all of the rooms on the ground floor are also equipped with roll-down metal shades to help secure them.
Gibsons Elementary is divided into two wings, and while the side used by the students is nearly complete, the other wing, meant to serve the community as a Neighbourhood of Learning Centre, is a little farther behind.
Once complete it will house a large daycare, a Strongstart room and two multi-purpose rooms as well as the community school office and an area for special needs instruction.
The construction has seen many delays due mainly to weather, soil conditions and getting supplies shipped from off-Coast, but Luporini said the students, staff and parents have all been “really wonderful throughout” and that they are pleased with what has come together.
Next week will see more work on the driveway and drop-off area near the Gibsons Heritage School side entrance, which may result in a few trees being taken down along Gibsons Way.
The Gibsons volunteer fire department told the school district recently they need an access road put in beside the Heritage School that connects with Gibsons Way. Currently the school district is planning how to accommodate the request.
“We’re uncertain on a final design for the fire access, but have definitely heard and understood that the school community would like to preserve as many trees as possible,” noted Nicholas Weswick, secretary treasurer at School District No. 46.
