Feb 20, 2016 3 min read

Canon-McMillan School District officials are working on building a new-and-improved Muse Elementary School, which will hold kindergarten through fourth-grade students who currently attend Cecil, First Street and the existing Muse elementary schools. The school, which is being constructed near the existing Muse Elementary School, is expected to be complete in 2017.

This new building will replace the three outdated elementary schools. While the old elementary facilities lacked basic technologies, such as air conditioning, the plans for the new elementary building include air conditioning, mobile carts for laptops and a panel by the teachers’ desks, which will control technologies such as projectors and sound systems.

An added benefit to combining three elementary buildings into one bigger location is that faculty members, who previously traveled among numerous schools, will now be at the same building every day. For example, each elementary school may have had an art teacher, librarian, gym teacher or band director available only one or two days a week. Now these teachers will be in the same building each day, making it easier for students to reach them when necessary.

Although the building will house three times as many students as the previous elementary schools, Canon-McMillan Assistant Superintendent Scott Chambers said students will still get “that neighborhood school feel within a bigger school.”

He pointed out that elementary school students only have one main teacher, so the teachers will maintain a close bond with each child. Chambers also said the building will have two principles – one in charge of kindergarten through second grade and another responsible for third and fourth grade – to help ease concerns about the large number of students.

Though the increased number of students may be a concern to some, Chambers pointed out that it can actually be a benefit to the students. Since there will be more teachers and classrooms available for each grade, Chambers said the school will “easily be able to put students together with similar needs,” which will mean that, though the school may be larger, the education may become more individualized.

Chambers also said that students who have a history of trouble wtogether can be separated, while students who are on a similar academic or social level can be put together.

Ultimately, this $31 million project is geared toward the students. With new technology for student use, more time with specialized faculty members and plans to help keep a tight-knit, community vibe in the school, the students should be able to get a new and improved elementary experience.

By Julia Felton

Junior, Canon-McMillan