New year, new look: Schools work to update facilities – Kokomo Tribune

With the new school year comes new updates, renovations and projects for school districts in and around Howard County. The following is a look at what has changed at area schools.

KOKOMO

The Kokomo School Corporation has been working to renovate several buildings in the district, including Pettit Park and Wallace elementary schools and Maple Crest and Central middle schools.

At Pettit Park Elementary, the district is working to move the administration office and add a cafeteria.

Until now, the administration office has been in the middle of the building, meaning parents and visitors have to walk through the halls to sign in. The change is part of a district-wide initiative to add more security.

The school also has not had a kitchen that allows for food to be prepared on-site, so it has had meals prepared off-site and delivered to Pettit Park. The renovation will allow it to prepare food on-site and will provide a dedicated cafeteria, along with a stage for school performances.

The work at Wallace Elementary is now complete. The school now has a new drop-off area for lower grades, allowing for faster drop-off and pick up before and after school. The renovation included five new classrooms, a new cafeteria and a new kitchen.

At Maple Crest Middle School, the renovations are underway to add a new media center and a new art room. Other work has included a new culinary arts space and renovations to the restrooms. With the culinary arts space, students will be able to prepare food, which they can then sell in the cafeteria.

Work is being done at Central Middle School to expand the media center and renovate other parts of the building.

The district also is renovating its football field and practice field, as well as the track at the high school. The project will transform the fields from grass to synthetic turf, a move that many schools in the state have been making over the last few years.

The projects for the Kokomo School Corporation are expected to be completed from the end of the year into 2018.

TAYLOR

The Taylor Community School Corporation announced earlier this year its plan to add solar panels on land it owns near the middle and high school. The panels will allow the district to generate most to all of its energy needs.

Chris Smith, superintendent of the district, said the project hopefully will allow Taylor to save money in its general fund that is usually spent on power. The money could potentially go toward salaries and classroom supplies.

We run a pretty tight budget so that could really help us out, Smith said.

The work was initially planned for completion by the end of the summer, but a change to specifications for the transformers in the project set it back. Smith said the project should be completed in the next few weeks.

Taylor will be the first district in Howard County to have solar panels, and the project will take advantage of current net metering rules, which will allow the district to sell back energy to Duke at a retail rate, making it cost-effective for the district.

NORTHWESTERN

The Northwestern School Corporation is completing work on its first project for its athletic fields. The current project will ultimately include three renovated fields, changing the fields from grass to synthetic turf. The tennis fields are also included in the projects, and the school is also renovating its pool.

Its going to be a beautiful, beautiful place for the athletic facilities, said Blake Betzner, director of facilities at Northwestern.

Betzner said the rain has slowed the project a little over the summer, but the work is currently wrapping up.

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New year, new look: Schools work to update facilities - Kokomo Tribune