THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510030116
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
As soon as you step inside the front door of Hardy Elementary School, you realize something is different.
The obvious difference, initially, is the central office - bright and cheerful, painted in shades of peach and pale green. The office is now in a corner just inside the doors and across from the cafeteria.
And something is different there as well. There are two lunch lines rather than one. Hungry youngsters file through faster. And behind the scenes in the cafeteria is modern, new lunchroom equipment of bright stainless steel.
But that's not all, Principal Richard Crawford will tell you, as he conducts a whirlwind tour of $1.8 million in renovations to a nearly 40-year-old school.
The bus loop in front of the school was extended so that some school buses no longer have to wait on the highway while others load and unload children.
And a new fire alarm system was installed, adding lights for hearing-impaired youngsters.
The electrical system throughout the school was upgraded and modernized. Old, brown carpets in the hallways were replaced by sparkling, white tile.
``The old carpet looked bad and smelled worse,'' Crawford said as he walked briskly through the school, stopping in a classroom here, patting a youngster on the head there. ``We all agreed we needed a bright tile, and we're very pleased with the effect the tile gives us.''
One major renovation that should impact the whole school as well as teachers and parents is the technology upgrade of Hardy Elementary. Eventually, hopefully by January, every classroom will be equipped with a telephone and a television, Crawford said.
``Every teacher will have an electronic mailbox. Parents can call the school, hit a teacher's extension and hear about homework assignments, activities coming up. It will allow for an exchange between parents and teachers 24 hours a day.''
Teachers also will have direct access to the school library to bring videos and programs to the classroom at the touch of a button.
``Eventually, we'll have that same capability from school to school,'' Crawford said. ``If Carrollton Elementary has a piece of software we want to use, we'll be able to access it.''
Construction on the new school library, originally slated to be completed by the first of the year, is running ahead of schedule, he said. Four classrooms and a hallway were sliced from a corner of the building and combined into what by December will house the new library.
``We were very conscious of wanting to open the school up a bit and brighten things,'' Crawford said. ``My wish to the architect was - if there was any way - to showcase the new library. It will be complete with a skylight. It will be the center of the whole school, very much a source of pride for the whole community.''
The library also will have two small reading rooms and a mechanical room to house the technical equipment.
Almost every inch of the school has been touched by the renovations. Classrooms were painted and windows equipped with blinds. The athletic field was revamped, and wheelchair access ramps were added.
``This is one of the things I am most proud of,'' Crawford said, standing outside a handicapped-accessible restroom in one classroom. ``We will now have handicapped accessibility at each grade level. We've learned a lot.''
Hardy Elementary was built in 1959, and a new wing was added in the early '80s. At one point, the school accommodated nearly 1,000 pupils in kindergarten through third grade.
That changed when the new Carrollton Elementary School opened and the school system went to the middle-school concept. The number of students at Hardy has decreased, to a high so far this year of about 670 children in kindergarten through fifth grade. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
The cafeteria features two lunch lines, which allows students to
file through faster. The cafeteria also has modern lunchroom
equipment.
by CNB