New school gets finishing touches
The scent of new paint still lingers in a room or two, marking the end of a yearlong wait for River City Middle School in Post Falls.
Outside, workers are putting on final touches while the commons area is brimming with incoming furniture. Teachers will begin moving in Monday and more than 450 Post Falls Middle School students will shed Spartan colors to take the role of Titans this September.
“It’s like expecting a new child for me,” said Katherine Kosareff, an eighth-grade English teacher and team leader among eighth-grade teachers. “I’m so excited. You don’t know what to expect, but you know it’s going to be grand.”
Post Falls residents passed a $7.1 million levy with a 72.8 percent “yes” vote in October 2002. Construction on the 61,295-square-foot project near 15th Avenue and Fir Street has been on or ahead of schedule since the groundbreaking last summer, said Becky Ford, assistant superintendent.
Silver-and-blue design elements are consistent from ceiling to floor in the new building with an added touch in the commons, where two bridgelike structures frame either end and blue floor tiles wind from one end to the other to form an abstract river. The image represents the transition between elementary school and high school for the school’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.
“We loved it,” Ford said. “We thought it was the perfect message.”
River City splits into two wings with 10 classrooms each, some of which have partitions to join two classes for group projects. It’s considered a Phase I project, meaning a second floor can be added over one wing and offices can be expanded. The school also is primed for wireless Internet and will be linked to Seltice Elementary, Mullan Trail Elementary and the district office to meet future technology needs.
Mike Yovetich, River City’s new principal, said the building is more “user-friendly” overall.
“When you’re teaching, it’s better that you can deliver information and be more efficient,” said Yovetich. “It’s an atmosphere that’s more conducive to learning.”
The school also has a full-court gym, a music room with two soundproof rooms, an art room with a kiln, a shop, a media center and a science lab.
The building draws on natural light in several rooms, and plenty of storage is available as the school expands. In addition, basketball courts and ball fields have been set up outside.
The school’s completion reflects community growth and pride, said Richard Harris, former Post Falls superintendent now in the education consulting business.
Harris was involved in pushing the bond to build an $18 million high school in Post Falls six years ago. Once the school was built, a new sense of community pride came through, he said. The new middle school will likely have the same effect.
He added River City could sway businesses to Post Falls, as strong school systems are top concerns for businesses looking to relocate.
“All you have to do is take them by those schools and show them what the community has done,” said Harris. “They are immediately impressed.”
About 750 students will remain at the Post Falls Middle School, now in the former Post Falls High School building off 15th Street. Students west of Spokane Street will attend the new middle school. Class sizes will remain the same at about 25 students to a room.
For Kosareff, the move is a way to reconnect with students and staff. She said the bulging student body at the existing middle school affected the one-on-one interaction when she started teaching 13 years ago.
“We were like a family. And I’m looking forward to that.”
While somewhat apprehensive about leaving peers behind, Kosareff said students are also looking forward to being more than just “a face in a crowd.”