SHELBY — Shelby’s new PreK-8 building is finally bringing everybody together on one unified campus.
The facility welcomed students in kindergarten through 5th grade on Tuesday for the first day of school. Students in sixth through eighth grade have begun classes in the old junior high building nearby.
Amid workforce shortages and supply chain delays, the district and its construction firm, Adena, narrowed their focus to preparing the new facility for younger students in order to start school as scheduled on Sept. 6.
Supt. Tim Tarvin said the district is aiming to have the older students move into the building around mid-October. The 155,000 square-foot building replaces Auburn Elementary, Dowds Elementary and Shelby Middle School.
It will serve approximately 1,300 students once the middle schoolers move in.
The new building was first proposed in 2017. After three failed attempts to pass a facilities levy, the district reached an agreement with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission that combined state funding with the district’s revenue from the Rover Pipeline.
“We’re excited to give our kids something so state-of-the-art,” Tarvin said.
“It’s a win-win for everybody in the community of Shelby. It’ll last for generations and everyone’s on one campus.”
The building is broken up into “pods” with classrooms of the same grade grouped together. Each pod has a shared extended learning area with comfortable seating, magnetic whiteboards and smart-boards.
Teachers and administrators said the spaces are ideal for group work or cross-classroom collaborations.
The new setup also allows teachers to help one another.
“During the day they can meet, collaborate to talk and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this strategy?'” Tarvin said.
“They have a chance to really enhance their craft, because they can bounce ideas off each other more easily.”
Fifth grade student Kayla Lykins said she likes the change of pace the extended learning spaces offer.
“You’re not all cramped. You don’t have to be shoved into a classroom all day,” she explained. “You can have a different learning environment.”
The gym, cafeteria and art rooms are all located in the center of the building.
Lykins said she appreciates having the cafeteria farther away from the classrooms.
“We don’t have to worry about being noisy and you can still talk to your friends and not interrupt other classes,” she said.
Kaylee Dabney, another fifth grade student, said her favorite part of the new building is the gym, which can be divided by a giant red curtain down the middle.
“I like how you can separate it and there are multiple basketball hoops,” she said. “There are six, so each side has three. So people aren’t fighting over them.”
Other students said the part they enjoy the most is the new playground. Brightly colored swings, slides, see saws and climbing structures are on one side atop a cushy rubberized surface.
The blacktop portion includes four basketball hoops and a sensory path. White lines guide students in swirls and zig zags, along with suggested activities like dancing or tip-toeing.
Tarvin said both the playground and the building are fully ADA compliant, unlike the previous facilities.
“(Kids with disabilities) were restricted in the older buildings. There were places they just couldn’t get to,” he said.
“In this building they have access to everything that every other kid has, and that’s the way it should be.”
At the old elementary and middle school buildings, physical therapist assistant Miranda Brammer worked with students in the hallway.
Now she has her own kinesthetic learning lab, where students can be loud, run, jump, skip and throw balls without disturbing nearby classrooms or reading groups.
“I don’t have to shush them. They can use loud movements, big movements and it’s okay,” she said.
“If they get their jitters out in here, they are able to be more focused, they can sit in their chair properly. They have good posture; they can comprehend what’s happening.”
