THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060213
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Construction at Deep Creek Elementary School has been a bit of a headache for the students and staff there.
The renovation and addition work was supposed to have been finished by late August, but delays left large portions of the building uninhabitable when school began. Some students and teachers had to spend the first few days of classes in temporary quarters at neighboring Deep Creek High School.
Now the teachers and students are back at the elementary school, but the work remains incomplete.
The library, gymnasium and one hallway of classrooms are closed. Furniture and supplies are stacked in the library or packed in trailers at the back of the playground.
Some teachers have had to move their classes two and three times, until they could finally settle in their permanent rooms.
Still, students, parents and staff members say they are making the best of it.
``It's delayed,'' said Principal Anita A. Jones. ``But when it's finished, it's going to be beautiful.''
The construction will expand the school, which now houses kindergarten through third grades, allowing fourth and fifth grades to be added over the next several years. The six portable classrooms that used to dot the playground are gone.
The building also will be more in line with modern facilities. The school's first computer lab, for example, will be opening soon.
New kindergarten classrooms have their own bathrooms and exits to the playground, which makes life easier for the young children. Special education classes have a washer and dryer.
The cafeteria and existing classrooms have been improved. The lunchroom no longer houses the stage, leaving more room for eating. The stage was moved into the new gymnasium, and a new high-tech sound system was installed.
Old classrooms have new lighting, ceilings, paint, carpet and cabinets.
A new wing of classrooms includes a huge room for art, with plenty of storage cabinets and its own sink.
The library, when complete, will have a high-tech computer cataloging system.
Outside, a new bus loop and more parking will allow traffic to flow more smoothly.
``It's going to be really something,'' Jones said.
Teachers, students and parents have pulled together to make a less-than-desirable first month work, Jones said.
``It's an experience they'll never forget,'' she said.
The cafeteria staff, for example, delivered bag lunches to all classrooms during the first week of school, until the refurbished lunchroom was completed.
The art teacher also took his instruction to the classrooms until his room was finished this week. The librarian still is carting books around to the students.
The high school staff did everything possible to make the younger students feel welcome during their four-day stay, elementary teachers said.
The high school librarian read to the kids. The high school music teacher taught them a music lesson. A special lunchtime was set up for the kids, so they could eat in the cafeteria without having contact with the older students.
``It worked out pretty well,'' said Kathleen L. Monroe, a second-grade teacher who taught her students in the high school's library for the first week of school, until they could move back into the elementary building.
It wasn't easy, Monroe said. Her textbooks were packed, so she couldn't get them until she got back to the elementary school.
Monroe is finally in her permanent classroom, after three moves. There's been little time to set up her room. The situation has frustrated her at times, she said.
``We've still been teaching,'' she said. ``I work around it.''
Students saw their visit to the high school as an adventure.
``It was fun,'' said Danielle M. Woiteshek, 7, a second-grader.
``We liked the cafeteria,'' said 7-year-old second-grader Ryan A. Robertson. ``The music room was big, and we liked that.''
``We got to meet lots of people,'' said Brett A. Duplechain, 7, also a second-grader.
Susan A. Satcher, Deep Creek Elementary's PTA president, said her second-grade daughter, Lacey, thought going to the high school was a blast.
``She felt like she was one of the big kids,'' Satcher said. by CNB