Renovations benefit students, teachers
Students play in the newly renovated gym at Ringgold School District Elementary North on Wednesday.
Ringgold School District Elementary North Principal Ross Ference and Assistant Principal Lori Farnworth stand in the newly renovated part of the school.
Students are shown in the renovated library at Ringgold School District Elementary North on Wednesday.
The first reaction of the 60 staff members and nearly 550 students is an image Ringgold Elementary School North third-year principal Ross Ference will never forget.
For Ringgold Superintendent Dr. Karen L. Polkabla, it was a reinforcement of a statement she made repeatedly to teachers at the elementary last year.
“I told them temporary inconvenience for permanent satisfaction,” she said.
Now, after several teachers were forced to move classrooms multiple times last year and students were taken to modular units outside the building, both are enjoying seven new classrooms, 30 renovated classrooms, a multipurpose gymnasium, new restrooms and an updated kitchen.
“We had four teachers move twice last year,” said Ference. “The minor inconveniences that they put up with last year were well worth it.”
While the floor-to-ceiling renovations allow for an updated look, the most welcoming part of the $9 million project, which finished Aug. 12, was the inclusion of air conditioning throughout the facility. It’s an addition to the building that will, for now, only affect the school a few months of the year, but was never questioned throughout the project.
“If you think of the places you go now – in cars, in stores and in one’s home – it’s hard to think of a place that doesn’t have air conditioning,” said Polkabla. “We’re just accustomed to that, so when we thought of renovating this building there was no question that was to be included.”
“It’s a world of difference,” said Ference, who recognizes the elevated happiness from teachers in the air-conditioned building. “We all knew the goal was there last year. Overall, I think it brought our staff closer to each other, and I give them a lot of credit. We hit the ground running to start the school year, and we’re much more functional.”
The additional classrooms allow for a more collaborative approach the district is trying to create, and it will reduce the reliance on the six modular units that were outside last year.
The district is planning on removing all the units following the approximately $32 million construction of the new middle school that is expected to be finished by fall 2017. Then, the district will move fifth graders to the new building to reduce the numbers in the elementary schools, particularly Ringgold Elementary School South.
“We’re going to be able to offer more to the fifth grade than we ever have before,” said Polkabla. “We don’t have science labs here, so they will have more of that experience. They will also have more technology available to them. Originally, we needed to do the move because South is overcrowded. That move is going to help with both space and allowing fifth graders to get a better experience.”
The students within the district are still protected by an advanced security system and two armed officers on school grounds, a procedure that remains intact with the other safety measures taken in the new buildings.
“Atmosphere has to do with how students learn,” said Polkabla. “First, we made it a safe atmosphere, so they aren’t worried. Secondly, we made it a pleasant experience by making the building nice and keeping the building cool. It’s the best possible conditions for learning.”