Construction Update

ISD 181: Building Into The Community and Into the Future

BY SHEILA DECHANTAL PHOTOS BY KELLY HUMPHREY

Grass has not grown under the feet of the Brainerd School District as it has moved forward with exciting plans for the South Campus Facility, the high school’s performing arts center and updates to its early childhood programs with a new location.

On May 24, the groundbreaking ceremony was held in front of the South Campus as construction began. Digging into the ground to kick off this project is just the start to also digging into the space that will become the future home for special education and the STARS (Students Transition and Reach Success) programs, providing break out rooms for these students to be able to put more focus on their studies with less distractions. The newly remodeled space will provide a setting for students with significant behavior and/or mental health issues with additional programs offered that focus on their needs.

“This will be the home to the level IV programs in the Brainerd Public School District. The building will serve students from surrounding districts as well. The program currently serves students from grade 2 through age 21 with a variety of special education needs.

It has been fun to be a part of the process. The spaces are really starting to take shape. What our staff and students do in our current facilities is fantastic. What they will do in our new facility will be even better.

“To say that our learners and staff are excited to get into the renovated space and be under one roof for the 2022-2023 school year is an understatement. We are super excited about the ‘new’ South Campus building project,” said Amy Jordan, principal of the newly developed space.

The high school classes that have previously been offered in the south campus will be moving to the north campus. Construction of this updated facility is scheduled to be completed and ready for classes in the fall of 2022.

As this project is under way, Sourcewell added a $5.2 million dollar grant which will allow for even more remodeling than originally anticipated.

The Brainerd High School’s performing arts center has been an incredibly exciting undertaking. The grand opening of the newly named Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts, was on May 26, a dream come true after sitting for many years on the original 1955 plans for the high school. If you were lucky enough to be one of the attendees of the grand opening, you were treated to a tour of the space, with many speakers including Superintendent Laine Larson, School Board Chair Bob Nystrom and Mayor David Badeaux. Performance art, choirs and musicians filled the stage, including the high school’s wind symphony and symphonic band playing an original song that rang true to the design of the building. The name for the center comes from the Ojibwe word meaning “Big River” or “Mississippi River.”

This auditorium, located on the high school campus, is a true game changer. No longer will students of the arts have to carry all their equipment and cross the streets to

To say that our learners and staff are excited to get into the renovated space and be under one roof for the 2022-2023 school year is an understatement. go to the Tornstrom Auditorium. - Amy Jordan The art center also has plenty of Principal, South Campus storage space as well as classroom space for these students creating a safer and more fluid environment. The art center, which seats 1,200, will not only be for school events, it will also be available for community events. To have such a state-ofthe-art event center able to bring people together from all over for performances is a true benefit to the community. The district is equally as excited about the Warrior Early Learning Center, formerly known as the Baxter Elementary School, located at 5546 Fairview Road in Baxter as it becomes the new home of many of the early childhood (birth through pre-kindergarten) programs such as: ► ECFE classes for parents and their children together ► School readiness which consists of two or four halfdays or full days for children 3 to 5 years of age; ► Pre-K Plus, a combination of school readiness preschool and child care that is available during the summer as well as during the school year;

9:00am-3:00pm Riverside Elementary, 220 NW 3rd Street, Brainerd MN 56401 | Free Admission • Concessions Sponsored by Brainerd Community Education • For More Information: kari.roberts@isd181.org

► Early childhood screening at the age of 3 to see how a child is learning and growing; ► Early childhood special education for preschool age children that show any developmental delays in different areas.

“Our new Warrior Early Learning Center has been remodeled to create a learning environment appropriate for exploratory learning and allows our young students to learn independence in a welcoming and safe school environment. Having this space has allowed us to expand programming and provide enriching opportunities for families in the Brainerd lakes community,” said Tahnee Flowers, Assistant Community Education Director for Early Childhood.

With early childhood screening, early childhood family education, preschool, extended childcare and more, this early learning center is filled with high-quality experiences for all families before entering kindergarten. “With early childhood screening, - Tahnee Flowers Assistant Community Education Director, Early Childhood early childhood family education, preschool, extended childcare and more, this early learning center is filled with high-quality experiences for all families before entering kindergarten,” Flowers said. Throughout the summer, events were offered at this location including a picnic in June, as well as four weeks of preschool camps throughout July for 3- to 5-year-olds. These events offered these young children an opportunity to explore classroom settings prior to the school year. Repurposing this space as an Early Childhood Education Center has proved to be exactly what was needed — breathing new life into this building in productive and beneficial ways.