PEA RIDGE — When students and teachers in Pea Ridge's primary grades head off to lunch or gym class this school year, they will no longer have to be weather-ready.
Students in kindergarten through second grade now have their own brand-new building to call home. The 75,000-square-foot school has color-coded halls that correspond with the grade that has its classes in a given hallway.
Previously, all elementaryschool students (kindergarten through fifth grade) were educated at the campus near downtown Pea Ridge. The campus had multiple buildings, which required students and teachers to go outside every time they wanted to go to a different part of the school.
"You had to put your coat on to go to lunch," first-grade teacher Donna Lillard said.
Teachers working to get their classrooms ready for students this week agreed - being under one roof is probably the best thing about the new school. The school's newness is another positive feature.
"Having such a nice new building is wonderful," Vickie Kennemer, kindergarten teacher, said.
With the K-2 students at the new campus, that still leaves students in grades 3-5 at the other campus. That campus is now being referred to as the intermediate elementary school, and the new school is being referred to as the primary school. The new school does not have an official name yet, principal Keith Martin said.
The Pea Ridge School Board approved a naming policy at its August school board meeting, and a committee has been established to decide on a possible name for the school, superintendent Mike Van Dyke said.
Martin said there will be six classes of each grade level at the primary school, and there's room for up to 10 classes in each grade level. Although the school district's growth rate has slowed, the district is still growing, and administrators want to be ready for those students when they come, he said.
Van Dyke said the building was paid for through Arkansas Department of Education Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation Commission Partnership funds, as well as a millage increase approved by Pea Ridge School District patrons.
"This is a building our community can be proud of," he said.
Area, Pages 9 on 08/19/2009