It’s only been open a week but staff and students at the new Sacred Heart Community School are already praising what they call a state-of-the-art facility.
“There’s whole, new unique features that this school has that other schools don’t have,” Grade Eight student Alexander Cote-Ayer said.
The running theme throughout the school is open concept including high ceilings with colourful panes of glass and natural light.
The main lobby or corridor can also double as an auditorium, with stairs serving as seats for the students. The current gymnasium is still under construction and is expected to be completed by December.
Classrooms and multipurpose rooms can also be easily reassembled – tailored to each individual teacher’s needs and wants. The school said it’s the new modern way of building classrooms.
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“As time goes by, kids need to move more than they have in the past and so keep giving them different heights of furniture, different chairs, allows them to self regulate,” principal Dave Magnusson said.
“That’s sort of the, I don’t want to say 21st Century learning because it’s 2017, but modern way things are done it gives you the flexibility to move into groups to do group,” superintendent of facilities Rodd Hoffart said.
“It’s flexible enough so that you can do whatever you want as a teacher.”
The walls are currently also lined with quotes from famous leaders like Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi.
Brick and wood has been recycled from the old Sacred Heart building – repurposed in the new school as part of design.
“It’s kind of like a new house, you move in and get a feel for it and then we’ll start hanging things up and putting up the decorations,” Magnusson said.
Safety of the students is also top of mind. The entrance is specifically designed to monitor activity and beyond design, technology enhances the students’ well-being.
Security tapes are available for 30 days if required.
The rebuild came in at $21-million, about 15 per cent under its $25-million budget.
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