Given the choice , I don ' t believe any parent would prefer to have their child in a storefront location rather than a school building with all the amenities it provides . Repurposing the schools — it was just so much better for our kids .
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As Amy Homicke thinks about the the young children that fill Riverview Early Childhood Center , a smile grows on her face . “ It ’ s been amazing for our students and our staff to be in this building ,” she said .
Homicke is the special education supervisor at Riverview Early Childhood Center in Brooklyn Park , a school that since 2010 has exclusively been home to Anoka-Hennepin Early Childhood Special Education and Early Childhood Family Education programming .
“ Having all of our students and staff in one place like this is amazing ,” Homicke said . “ And parents feel more comfortable having their small children attend a school-building instead of bringing kids to storefronts and malls .”
Storefronts and malls may sound like hyperbole , but it was the case for a lot of the programming Anoka-Hennepin had for its most vulnerable students until 2010 . That year , the district made the difficult decision to repurpose six of its neighborhood schools , reimagined the roles of the buildings , and converted them into new , different spaces for district students .
“ It was a difficult decision , but students , parents , and staff are thrilled with the move from storefronts to schools with green spaces , playgrounds , ball fields , gyms , and lunchrooms ,” said Anoka-Hennepin Chief Operations Officer Chuck Holden . “ Ultimately , we are serving our students much better .” So what changes were made ?
Washington Elementary School in Anoka is now the sixth-grade campus of Anoka Middle School for the Arts ; Sorteberg Elementary School in Coon Rapids and Riverview , which had been Riverview Specialty School for Math and Environmental Science , are now home to Early Childhood Special Education , Early Childhood Family Education programs and preschool , as well as early childhood screening ; L . O . Jacob Elementary School in Coon Rapids is now the River Trail Learning Center and home to the district ’ s full-day , level IV special education programming ; Sandburg Middle School is now used for Community Education programming , high school athletic programs ( specifically Anoka High School gymnastics and Andover High School dance ), district professional development , some special education staff , and School Board meetings ; and the Parkview Kindergarten Center in Brooklyn Park became Champlin-Brooklyn Park Academy . All of those repurposed neighborhood schools are full of students and programming each and every day .
Before 2010 , Anoka-Hennepin ’ s early childhood students were spread out around seven different locations , including three outside of district schools : the Coon Rapids Family Place Mall , Champlin Strip Mall and Coon Rapids Head Start Building .
Homicke says the change was profoundly positive for the district ’ s early childhood programming , which consolidated from seven different locations all across the district — including sites at the Coon Rapids Family Place Mall , Champlin Strip Mall and Coon Rapids Head Start Building — to two : Riverview and Sorteberg .
“ We have the ability to provide building-wide opportunities to help our students get ready for kindergarten transitions , including
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE
Repurposed schools are allowing Anoka-Hennepin and its most vulnerable students to thrive
Questions persist over school repurposing , and roles the buildings now have .
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Given the choice , I don ' t believe any parent would prefer to have their child in a storefront location rather than a school building with all the amenities it provides . Repurposing the schools — it was just so much better for our kids .
Anoka-Hennepin Chief Operations Officer Chuck Holden
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Early Childhood Special Education and Early Childhood Family Education students from the Sorteberg Early Childhood Center in Coon Rapids helped install a new ADA-compliant swing at the school last year .
practicing in the cafeteria for what the kindergarten lunchroom will look and feel like ,” she said . “ And now we offer celebrations assembly-style gatherings with our students , which is great and provides a real sense of community for our students .”
Marsha Polys , who is the special education supervisor at Sorteberg , says the benefits of being in a school versus a strip mall go deeper than what meets the eye .
“ It ensures that resources are used wisely and don ’ t have to be duplicated at different sites ,” she said . “ It also means that there is a consistent location that families can access without confusion on where they should go .”
Using resources more wisely was one of the main reasons the changes were originally made , according to Holden . At the time , there was an excess of more than 150 unused classrooms in schools across the central and southern portions of the district , plus a significant number of malls and storefronts being leased for program needs .
In 2008-09 the School Board appointed a citizen task force to review the issue . The group met for several months , studying demographics , enrollment projections , and finances before making recommendations .
“ The task force found that operating schools under capacity is expensive and inefficient , and that money could be better used for teachers and other program needs ,” Holden said . “ The repurposed schools are now being used efficiently , and specifically , students at Riverview , Sorteberg , and River Trail at L . O . Jacob now have playgrounds , lunchrooms , and gyms that they did not have access to in leased spaces .”
In addition to better serving students , the district has saved more than $ 3 million a year since repurposing the schools , Holden said .
Specifically , more than $ 700,000 a year was saved by consolidating the district ’ s early childhood programming into Sorteberg and Riverview . And by moving the district ’ s level IV special education students to River
Trail at L . O . Jacob , the district no longer has to send students outside the district to intermediate districts 287 and 916 , which has saved nearly $ 1 million a year in transportation and tuition costs .
“ Keeping our students here is not only financially beneficial , but it is a much better service for our students and families ,” Holden said .
Two other sites were also involved in the building repurposing in 2010 — Champlin Elementary School and the Educational Service Center on Hanson Boulevard in Coon Rapids .
Champlin Elementary School was closed , and has since been sold . The school was closed because of the significant price tag of renovating it to meet the needs of today ' s students and federal laws . The building , which only had a 400-student capacity , had two levels , and required the costly installation of an elevator to meet federal accessibility laws , plus at least $ 6 million in other repairs .
In addition , the former Educational Service Center off Hanson Boulevard was also closed and sold after district administrative staff were moved to the Peter Enich Kindergarten Center , which the district already owned in Anoka .
Nine years later , the enrollment projections the task force studied in 2008-09 have held true for the central and southern portions of the district , Holden said .
“ Today , it ’ s true Anoka-Hennepin is growing , but it ’ s growing in different areas , specifically in the northern parts of the district in Ramsey and Blaine ,” Holden said . “ And the growth areas are so far away from the schools that were repurposed in the south and central parts of the district that it wouldn ’ t be feasible to convert the repurposed buildings back into traditional schools to address space needs .”
While the changes were difficult at the time , after more than eight years to review them , Holden said it ’ s pretty clear they were a good thing for Anoka- Hennepin and its students .
“ It ’ s easy to understand why the community would be irritated that the elementary school down the street was repurposed ,” Holden said . “ Given the choice , I don ' t believe any parent would prefer to have their child in a storefront location rather than a school building with all the amenities it provides . Repurposing the schools — it was just so much better for our kids .” ■
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