(Lake Park)– The Harris-Lake Park School Board Wednesday evening reviewed conceptual drawings for the new elementary school to be constructed on to the existing middle school-high school facility. The plans, still somewhat preliminary, reflect input from teachers, staff and administrators. Superintendent Gary Richardson says they include many unique features…
“A pod system, which a lot of schools have. A pod system with a collaboration space. A lot of glass, a lot of see-through through the building, and we’re able to incorporate a nice commons area leading into the gym area, as well as our current middle school-high school can be remodeled, renovated if you will, to include 4th and 5th grade and it allows us over time to have double sections K-6th.”
Richardson says security features are included as well…
“In both the middle school-high school and the new elementary there will be a double entrance, so there will be a holding area. You’ll get buzzed into an office before you actually get into the flow of a classroom. Those may not look the same, but that will be a similar approach to both areas.”
Richardson says FEH, the architect hired by the district to oversee the project, will now refine those…
“The architects will go back and actually put it into a design phase to where we’re able to look at the square footage, to look at more what goes into the rooms, what kind of floor coverings, those type of things, and then they’ll be putting those details into documents which hopefully will go out for bid sometime in May.”
Voters in the Harris-Lake Park School District approved an 18.6 million dollar bond referendum in November, 2023, allowing the project to proceed.
