ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, August 5, 1996                 TAG: 9608050111
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: MONTVALE
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER

TEACHERS, RESIDENTS HELPED DESIGN SCHOOL

The most obvious thing about Montvale Elementary School is that everything is new - desks, bookshelves, chairs, even the water and sewer systems.

Students no longer will have to use the same room for gym classes, assemblies and lunch. They have a cafetorium with a music room off to the side and a ramp leading to the stage.

The final cost for the school will be $5.2million, Superintendent John Kent said.

The Bedford County School Board paid a developer $600,000 for 197 acres on U.S. 460, and the school occupies 48 acres. County officials plan to develop the rest of the land into commercial ventures because water and sewer systems are available, Kent said.

He said teachers and people in the community played a big role in designing the school, which will be home for 340 students.

"Teachers stressed having plenty of light, glass and fresh air," Kent said. There also is ample space for teaching supplies, and each class has its own sink. Classrooms in the primary wing have cloakrooms, while youngsters on the elementary wing will use hallway lockers.

In addition to having windows that open in each each classroom, all the classrooms on the north side of the building will get plenty of light but without direct sunlight that would make the rooms too hot. Teachers also will be able to adjust the temperature in each room.

The gym and cafetorium, at the front of the building, can be closed off from the rest of the school so the community can have access when school's not in session. Their heating systems can be adjusted when the areas are not in use.

The school also has a generator for when electrical power goes out, allowing the school to be used as an emergency shelter.

The gym has a regulation high school basketball court that also will be used by recreation teams, and 18 small windows in one wall to let in light.

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