School construction creating a buzz

Brooks students move into new classrooms with library on
the way, Cali students eager for new classrooms and
gym
by NATHAN WRIGHT, Staff Writer
When students at Brooks Elementary School showed up for the
first day of class last September, they found much of the center of
their school closed off by a chain-link fence.
Over the winter break much of that fence was removed, revealing
a brand new classroom building. Later this year, the rest of the
fence will be pulled down, and students will find themselves
exploring a new library, a new computer room and a new office. The
project at Brooks is just one of four major construction projects
under way in the Windsor Unified School District this fall, all
paid for by state money designated for growing school
districts.
“The four major projects are going full steam ahead,” said
construction consultant Mark Wheeler last week at the district’s
board meeting. “The Brooks Elementary School (classroom building)
was pretty much a success story over the winter break.”
If the school board were to ask Brooks Principal Shannyn
Vehmeyer, she would agree with Wheeler. “The classrooms look
fabulous,” she said. The new classrooms are now the homes of
programs like the Special Day Class, which helps students with
special learning needs. Teacher Lonni Goslin couldn’t be
happier.
“I have water, for the first time ever, in my classroom,” she
said. “It’s lovely.” Goslin has moved five times in two years, and
she’s hoping her new classroom is her permanent home. She said she
spent at least 20 hours packing her classroom up, and another 20 to
unpack it once the boxes had been moved.
“The kids are really proud to be in a new room,” Goslin
said.
With the classrooms complete, the rest of the staff is waiting
on the next phase of the $2.75 million project, which includes a
new library and computer room. The construction site has been a
distraction, but Vehmeyer said her staff and students have handled
it just fine.
“It hasn’t been that bad,” she said. “They do a lot of the major
stuff when we’re not here. Considering all that’s being done, it’s
been fairly painless.”
Over at Cali Calmécac Charter School, the students and staff are
still waiting for the completion of their $4.65 million project.
New construction includes a two-story classroom building, and a
gymnasium. The classroom building should have been completed by
now, but is running behind schedule.
“We’re all anxiously waiting for them to finish,” said CCCS
Principal Ginger Dale. “The noise can be distracting. The kids have
been so great, respecting the construction fences and are not
complaining.”
The two-story classroom will be a rarity in the district. Very
few of the district’s buildings are two stories, and Dale plans on
honoring her upper classmen with the upper level of the new
classrooms. “They’re at the top of the grades so they’ll be at the
top of the school,” she said.
The district hopes that the classroom project will be completed
in the middle of March, though the gym isn’t scheduled to be
finished until this summer. According to Dale, the new building
will allow the school’s physical education program to run
independently of the lunch period. Lunch and P.E. are both
currently held in the school’s multipurpose room.
The students will also be able to host their school’s sporting
events in the new gym, games that are normally played at Windsor
Creek Elementary School’s gym. “It’s part of our pride to host
other schools here,” Dale said.
Elsewhere in the district, construction continues on Windsor
High School’s new gym and agricultural center and on classrooms at
Windsor Middle School. Those projects are expected to be finished
during next school year.