Colbert Modernization, Building Right On Time Addition Will House Gym, More Classrooms In Around: Colbert

Hallway noise in Colbert Elementary School has been a little different this summer. Instead of chatter about Pokemon cards and Harry Potter books, there’s been the steady whirr of sanders, and shouted requests of “Can I borrow your level for about five seconds?”

The $3.2 million Colbert modernization and new gym construction project is pounding toward completion.

According to John Dormaier, director of facilities and planning for the Mead School District, the project is on time.

“We’re on a tight schedule, but we’re on schedule,” he said last week.

That means that Colbert staff members will be able to start moving into their classrooms Aug. 28, giving them about a week less time than usual to prepare classrooms.

But after completing construction projects on similar timelines at Evergreen and Brentwood elementary schools, officials are confident things will work out.

“Everyone just has to give a little,” Dormaier said.

By the start of school Sept. 6, the new multipurpose room and the front-wing modernization are scheduled to be complete. A new roof has already been put on the back wing.

The front of the school will have an arched entryway and bright blue awnings over each window.

The space that used to be the gym will now be a multipurpose room, giving students a place to do arts and crafts and eat lunch together. Students used to eat lunch in their classrooms.

Like they did in May, school officials will bring in food from Meadow Ridge Elementary School through September, while the kitchen remodel is completed. The enlarged and updated kitchen, which will open onto the multipurpose room, is scheduled to be completed Sept. 25.

A new, 11,800-square-foot building will contain a gym, four classrooms and ancillary spaces like storage, halls and bathrooms. The classrooms should be done by Sept. 25, and the gym should be completed by the end of October.

There also will be a new paved play area, about 25 more parking spaces and an enclosed courtyard with picnic tables, flower beds and a small greenhouse.

“It will appear new to anyone walking through - just the layout is basically the same,” Dormaier said. “It is a dramatic change.”

“We wanted a quality remodel, and I think that’s what we have,” said Colbert Principal Marcia Young. “We wanted something that would meet our education needs and stand the test of time.”

Young says she expects from 580-600 students next year. With the building addition - which brings Colbert up to the 54,000-square-foot model school size for the district - the school is ready to handle 1,200 small feet.

“Before, we didn’t have places to put two or three classes together, and with assemblies in the gym, we’d have to close down the P.E. program,” Young said. “This facility will meet our needs more. I’m excited about the changes.”