Students so happy to start a new year
It was like Christmas in September.
Eight-year-old Ashish Bhargava ran to his shiny new desk inside South Pines Elementary School like it was a gift waiting to be unwrapped.
Grinning wide, he pointed to the name tag with his name printed in neat lettering.
“This is where I’m going to sit,” he shouted to another fourth-grade student nearby, who was also scoping out his new digs.
After a year-long $5.4 million remodel, students, staff, parents and the community converged on South Pines for the grand re-opening ceremony Wednesday night.
“We’ve been driving by, like every week, just to see how it was turning out,” said Bhargava’s sister, 17-year-old Rima. “It’s so much better than it was before.”
With Central Valley School District’s school year set to begin today, the neighborhood around the school was filled Wednesday with children on scooters, bikes, and skates, all headed to see the “new” school on the corner of Pines and 24th Avenue.
More than 200 people filled the lawn in front of the school for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Children ran every which way, some perched high on the shoulders of parents.
“This really is like it’s new again,” said Central Valley School Board Chairwoman Anne Long. “It’s like, wow.”
South Pines is the last of four schools to be remodeled using leftover proceeds from the $78 million construction bond voters approved in 1998 to build two new high schools. The district received $23 million in state matching funds for the new high school projects, and that money was used to remodel South Pines, McDonald and Adams elementaries, and Greenacres Middle School, which was completed last year.
South Pines, built in the late 1950s, was last updated in 1974.
The remodel added 4,300 square feet of new construction, including a multi-purpose room for community use. All classrooms were finished with new furniture, carpet, paint and closets for students’ belongings. Students will no longer eat in the gym, but in a cafeteria.
“It’s been a long year,” said Principal Walt Clemons. “When students and staff walk through the door (Thursday), this South Pines becomes a school again.”
As the school underwent construction, students and staff relocated to the old University High School, also known as University Center.
Teachers began the task of putting classrooms back together this summer.
“I’ve been here every day for a week,” said Bhargava’s teacher, James Roibal. “When I came in, all my stuff was in boxes in the middle of the floor.”
His classroom showed no signs of that. Desks were lined in neat rows, name tags in the upper left corner. Roibal wandered among the mass of parents and students, shaking hands and introducing himself.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from your teacher last year,” Roibal said to Bhargava, who could hardly sit still long enough to hear what his teacher had to say.
“I’m ready for the year to begin,” Roibal said. “We’re all very excited.”