the gym .
“ We will still be using the ball diamond and the gym ,” he said . “ The cheerleaders are using the gym for practice .”
The Illinois State Board of Education allowed the Oakwood School District to use $ 2.4 million in federal ESSER ( Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief ) funds to consolidate the junior high with the grade school and enhance the learning environment for the junior high students by improving air quality , remote learning and technology with the construction of the new wing . In addition , the district sold $ 3 million in working cash bonds to pay for the project .
The district partnered with Ameresco , Inc . of Springfield , a performance contractor that specializes in energy efficiency and renewable energy and allows school districts to pay over time for improvement projects at existing facilities using the money the district saves in energy costs .
“ They brought in local entities , and they worked as a team ,” Maynard said . “ They didn ’ t get going until March , but they did this ( construction ) in five months . It ’ s been a good experience for us .”
In addition to the new seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms , the project entailed a new corridor north of the gym to connect the junior high wing to the existing grade school , a new mechanical room , a junior high teachers ’ lounge , a nurse ’ s office and a social worker ’ s office .
“ Each classroom will have a promethium board , and all the junior high students will have brand new full-size lockers ,” he said .
An extra special feature in the new wing is the junior high ’ s own band room .
“ We are excited about having a band room ,” Maynard said . “ The old junior high didn ’ t have a band room , so the kids used to have to take their instrument outside in all kinds of weather and into a garage .”
During construction , the grade school playground was dismantled to make way for the new junior high wing . Now that the school building layout is in the shape of an O , a new playground for students of all ages and abilities will be created inside the school ’ s large and secure courtyard . The playground will include a basketball court for the older students , brand new playground equipment and a new slide , synthetic rubber platform , and new playground equipment for special needs students .
“ We will have an inclusion turnabout ride and an inclusion swing ,” Maynard said . “ We ’ re trying to make this a special place for kids .”
The project also includes safety features such as security-controlled access doors , relocating the sidewalk closer to the building on the north side of the school , and creating parking spaces for parents and visitors .
The way students are dismissed at the end of the school day also has changed .
“ With another 140 to 150 students here , we had to assess how we ’ re dismissing students and all the different ages ,” Maynard said .
“ The Kid Account dismissal system is a new way to track kids so they know who they ’ re leaving with ,” he said .
Parents were given an indicator to place in the windshield
Ciara Baker , a third- and fourth-grade special education resource / co-taught teacher , goes through containers of craft supplies in her new classroom at Oakwood Grade School / Junior High . Photo by Carol Roehm
of their car , and school staff members stand outside with iPads to scan the parents ’ cars as they arrive to pick up their child or children .
Students remain in a waiting area inside the school and watch for their name to appear on a promethium board , similar to a flight arrival / departure board at an airport .
A total of 650 students now occupy the combined grade school / junior high .
“ We were able to do this without raising taxes ,” Maynard said , adding that two digital equity grants totaling $ 110,000 were used to bring technology to the junior high wing .
“ We were already in a good place with technology in the grade school , and we used the digital equity grant money to wire up the junior high wing ,” he said .
The school was open to the grade school and junior high teachers at the end of July so they could begin setting up their classrooms .
Ciara Baker , a third- and fourth-grade special education resource / co-taught teacher , was going through containers of craft supplies in her new classroom .
“ I ’ m new to the Oakwood district , but I ’ m super excited ,” Baker said . “ I ’ m close to home and in the same school as my daughter .”
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