At press time, Great Expectations School was setting up its new modular classroom. The classroom, which will be used for the kindergarten class and will also provide additional space for special education programming, will be connected to the existing building via an enclosed walkway.
“We’re entering our tenth year, but in some ways it feels like we’re just getting rolling,” said Great Expectations School (GES) Director Peter James about changes for the upcoming school year. The most evident of the changes at the school is a new modular building being added to the existing school.
The building is being leased from Innovative Modular Solutions, a firm that specializes in designing classrooms. James said GES has a five-year lease for the building, which means an additional expense as well as increased maintenance and utility costs. However, James added, “We budgeted for that. This is funded through the per-pupil funding we receive. GES receives no tax revenues.”
The modular building, which will be used as a stand-alone kindergarten and will also offer space for special education programming, will be connected to the existing building via an enclosed walkway off the back. The building will have its own restrooms and water fountains.
“We had a strategy to grow the school from the bottom up and are seeing the impact of that as our classes are now filling in the older grades as well. As a result, we’re moving to have a stand-alone kindergarten in addition to four multi-age classes, and we just don’t have space for 80 students in our existing building.”
James said there are 10 students in kindergarten at GES and the multi-age classrooms have no more than 20 students.
The school has also done remodeling in its current building to accommodate the growth. James said GES has had a lot of help in the process. “Our families have been great in making this possible,” he said. “We had almost 20 people show up the day after school was out last June to kick off a summer of activity. Folks were moving furniture, packing up boxes, painting walls, and all kinds of things. It was great to see so much volunteer support. It really got us off to a great start.”
Other significant changes include an additional classroom teacher, continued development of the school’s literacy program, and enhancements to better coordinate and integrate curriculum across subjects and grade levels. James said, “Our teachers are really the key to making these improvements. Even our ‘new’ teacher, Anne Mundell, has a couple years of experience working at GES. With the ongoing changes we’ve experienced, the stability and expertise they bring have been essential to our ability to meet both the academic and social development needs of our students.”
So what’s next for the school? “I’m just hoping we can pull off everything we have going this summer by the time students get off the bus September 4,” said James. “After that, we’ll be at the enrollment, classroom configuration, and staffing level our board targeted in their strategic planning, so our focus will shift from growth to continuing to do what we do even better.”
Anyone who would like more information about Great Expectations School can contact James at (218) 387-9322. GES school board meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. at the school.
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