Cedar Falls Community School District

CEDAR FALLS COMMUNITY

Aldrich 1 Elementary School

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2019 |

SCHOOL DISTRICT

Orchard Hill Elementary School

Providing an environment where students can thrive North Cedar Elementary School

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2019

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CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS

A LOOK INSIDE

Aldrich, Orchard Hill and North Cedar elementary schools ‌Cedar Falls Community School District prides itself on providing an environment where students can thrive.

In the last 1 ½ years, the district has opened a new school, Aldrich Elementary School, and renovated and added square footage to North Cedar and Orchard Hill elementary schools.

A letter from the Superintendent

‌O

n behalf of the Cedar Falls Schools Board of Education, administration, our students and our staff, we want to thank the entire community of Cedar Falls for supporting our District and giving us the means for the wonderful facilities we now have for all of our elementary buildings. We have been able to not only build a brand new elementary for Cedar Falls by opening Aldrich Elementary but also added on and renovated North Cedar Elementary and Orchard Hill Elementary schools. Your support has allowed us to add learning commons, classrooms, full-sized gymnasiums, separate lunchrooms, music rooms, maker ANDY spaces, natural light, plus so much more!

PATTEE As an educator, you dream of an optimal space where you can give students the best learning experience as possible. And we will be able to do just that.

Although the new elementary and renovations and additions are complete, a few things won’t change, like our district’s dedicated staff, hardworking students, supportive parents, and encouraging community.

Everyday I see teachers and staff committed to our children’s education. I see amazing parents that are always willing to go the extra mile. And lastly, I see students. I see students who are part of a dedicated community willing to put their education first. Together, we have done this. Together, as a community, we have done so much.

And not to be forgotten are the architects and designers behind the construction plans, thank you to Struxture Architects, Larson Construction, Cardinal Construction and Peters Construction.

Thank you so much, without all of your support, we wouldn’t be here today.

Andy Pattee Cedar Falls Schools Superintendent

BRANDON POLLOCK PHOTOS, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER‌

ALDRICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ‌Cedar Fall Community Schools’ seventh elementary school opened last fall at 2526 Ashworth Drive. The school is named for Bess Streeter Aldrich, a Cedar Falls native who became a best-selling author.

Students, faculty and staff love their new school.

“Last year was a little nervous for us, opening a brand new school. But it’s been great. This year, we’re a little bit more relaxed and now we know what we’re doing.

We really have taken advantage of the space – the kids and the teachers are using all of it,” said Principal Kim Cross.

Aldrich’s attendance boundaries include parts of the Southdale and Lincoln elementary school areas. The building has a 640 student capacity.

Please see ALDRICH, Page 5

Congratulations Cedar Falls Schools on your New & Renovated Buildings Aldrich Elementary • North Cedar Elementary • Orchard Hill Elementary

1510 Falls Ave., Waterloo 319-234-2580

CONGRATULATIONS CEDAR FALLS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ON THE COMPLETION OF THE NORTH CEDAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADDITION AND RENOVATION Thank you for allowing us to serve as your Contractor on this exciting project! www.cardinalconst.com

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CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS

ORCHARD HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ‌Principal Andrea Christopher compares the renovations at Orchard Hill Elementary School to “living in a dream house. Everyone loves the building, the colors, the space, the lighting – the energy is different, and we couldn’t be happier.

“We all absolutely love it.

We’re so appreciative and want to take care of it. It’s so light and airy, and the learning that’s taking place – to have our kids have the opportunities other kids in the district have is just phenomenal,” she said.

Orchard Hill gained about 36,418 square feet in its recent expansion. Orchard Hill’s new front entrance and offices, cafeteria, kitchen, gym, vocal and instrumental music rooms, and the fifth- and sixth-grade classroom wing are in the new addition facing Rownd Street. The school’s storm shelter will be in the music rooms.

Along with the reception area, there is a conference room and a teacher’s lounge that is much larger than before. The principal

BRANDON POLLOCK PHOTOS, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER‌

and the nurse’s offices have also grown in size.

After the addition was completed, focus turned to renovating the existing building.

The school’s former office area is now a preschool classroom with its own entrance — Orchard Hill’s original main entryway. The former art room is now a second-grade class-

Congratulations Cedar Falls Schools Proud to be part of this project.

room. Included in the secondthrough fourth-grade wing are several rooms converted to small group co-lab work spaces that are opened to the hallway or renovated to include a glass door and wall.

The art room opens to the maker space stretching along the front of the school. It includes a glass wall looking out on Rownd

Street that brings a lot of natural light into both rooms. It’s similar to the glass wall in the cafeteria, which is part of the new addition, that also faces the street.

The former gym and cafeteria has been divided into a collaborative space, art room and maker space. Renovations also included a revamped media center and four classrooms on the school’s

north end.

“Peters Construction did such a nice job that you can’t tell the old building from the new building. Everybody got something from the addition and renovations, and everybody – all of our students, teachers and staff – are enjoying all parts of it,” said Christopher.

ISG Inc. designed the project.

She pointed to the impact that the addition and expansion has already had on “little things like the book fair. Our book fair wasn’t crowded into the hallways like before. It was set up in the collaborative space, where everyone had plenty of room to move. We went from makPlease see ORCHARD HILL, Page 5

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CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS

Aldrich From 2

Larsen Construction worked on the project designed by ISG Inc. The building is flooded with natural light, thanks to its many large windows, including in classrooms, cafeteria, gym and hallways. In some hallways, windows look out into a courtyard that the school plans to use for student learning.

“When I give tours, the natural light is something people notice the most. You don’t feel enclosed.

There’s one glass wall in the cafeteria that looks out to windows on the other side of the hallway, which really helps for supervision because you can see the kids from a long way away,” Cross said.

The student and parent entrance is on the north side of

BRANDON POLLOCK, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER‌

Orchard Hill From 4

ing $3,000 last year to $7,000,” Christopher said.

And for the first time, concerts will take place at the school. In previous years, the events took place at the high school because Orchard Hill couldn’t accommodate all the students and parents, or the parking.

Along with the reception area, there is a conference room and a teacher’s lounge that is much larger than before. The principal and the nurse’s offices have also grown in size.

Safety and security features also were paramount in the project.

the school while a staff parking lot is to the south. Those entryways open to the “heart” of the building, a gathering space with a high ceiling surrounded by administrative offices, art and music classrooms, a maker space and the media center.

To the west are first- through third-grade and fourth- through sixth-grade classroom wings, jutting out from the building’s core

at an angle. Down a hallway east of the administrative offices and music classrooms are five preschool and kindergarten classrooms. South of the music classrooms are the gym, cafeteria, and full kitchen where meals are made on-site.

Each grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade has four classrooms. There are also two preschool classrooms. Two

Congratulations!

We are proud to have been a part of the Aldrich project.

• Commercial & Industrial General Contractor • Construction Manager • Design Builder

of the four rooms have a moveable divider that allows for classes to meet as a larger group.

One of the four classrooms in each grade is the DaVinci studio, a larger space with extra storage, an open ceiling and tile floors. Power cords hang from the ceilings for stations where students will do more project-based work and science labs.

Another classroom has an

overhead garage-style door that opens to a common area, providing flexibility in how the space is used. Students are able to work in small groups or gather for whole-grade presentations. A conference room also is available for students.

A larger common area is included in the early childhood wing, which serves as the building’s storm shelter.

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CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS

MORE ORCHARD HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHOTOS

MORE ALDRICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHOTOS

BRANDON POLLOCK PHOTOS, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER‌

JEFF REINITZ, JEFF.REINITZ@WCFCOURIER.COM‌

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District to build new high school ‌An estimated $112.9 million high school construction project is planned on 69.5 acres on West 27th Street near Hudson Road by the University of Northern Iowa.

Invision Architecture of Waterloo and Story Construction of Ames were approved as architects and construction manager, respectively.

The 1,400-student capacity school is expected to be approximately 295,000 square feet, according to the construction management contract. The campus will also have a 750seat stadium. Schematic design work will also be done to prepare the building and grounds for a future pool .

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CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS

NORTH CEDAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ‌Principal Katie Johnston said it is “hard to understate the change that has happened at North Cedar for the kids and teachers” with the addition and renovation at North Cedar Elementary School “We have this modern, beautiful place to come learn and work every day. There’s such a sense of pride. From the beginning of the process, we talked to the kids about what it means for our building to go through this, why it was happening, how the tax payers said yes to this project. We thought that was important for the students to know that ‘people believed enough in me to feel like I needed this space,’” she said.

Cardinal Construction did the work and ISG Inc., designed the project. The largest addition was at Fern and Lantz avenues. That includes the main entrance, office complex, counselor’s office, special education reading room, music room and art room. The addition also includes the cafeteria, kitchen and adjacent gymnasium. The music room also serves as the school’s storm shelter. The outer wall of the cafeteria, facing Lantz Avenue, is all glass. The gym is down three steps from the cafeteria. Another entryway to the side of the gym includes a ramp

BRANDON POLLOCK PHOTOS, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER‌

to meet accessibility requirements.

“We have these dedicated spaces that really match the level of instruction at the school. We made the best of what we had, but now we have all these tools and resources at our fingertips to go that much farther. We used to have to serve lunch out of the gym. Now we have an actual cafeteria with big beautiful win-

dows, and the kids go through a serving line where the food is kept hot. It’s prepared off-site and finished at the cafeteria.

Now the food is hot through all the lunch shifts,” Johnston said.

She’s also been impressed with the collaborative spaces “where multiple classes can work together with flexible seating and technology components. Having kids interact

with each other and collaborate is something we’re encouraging,” she explained.

A smaller addition was previously built on the south end of the building. A new classroom, collaborative space, meeting room and boiler room were added. Existing classrooms along that hall were expanded, pushing the building further out towards the street after the city

granted a setback variance.

The new spaces have opened as they were completed, which made the process fun for students and staff, Johnston explained. “Kids were super-excited when the gym opened, then our cafeteria opened, and then the library. The kids thought it was cool.”

Altogether, 24,853 square feet were added to the school. Safety and security measures were also part of the construction.

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CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS

Transforming Education Empowered educators and innovative spaces lead to endless youth opportunities opportunities.

The journey has only just begun congratulations to the Cedar Falls community!

Aldrich Elementary - Cedar Falls, IA

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Orchard Hills Elementary - Cedar Falls, IA

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