Ely Elementary getting readied for fall opening

ELYRIA — A 21st century building for 21st century learning. That's the design Architectural Vision Group aimed for as it began work on the new Ely Elementary. Ely is scheduled to open this fall as a kindergarten through fourth grade school. Most of the work is finished inside the building except for arranging some furniture and a few finishing touches. Ely Elementary — and the four other new buildings — is a result of a 3.86-mill, 35-year bond issue passed in 2016 to pay one-third of the $140 million project. The state put up two-thirds of the costs. Pops of color sprinkle the building, each one coordinated to a grade level. Inside the doors, students will follow their color on the floor that will lead to the classrooms. Kindergarten is orange, first and second are blue, and third and fourth are green. Buildingwide areas are, of course, red for the district's colors. Much of the seating in the building was designed with students in mind. Superintendent Ann Schloss said school officials wanted to meet students' needs with furniture, so there are rolling stool-like chairs for students that need to be able to move around. Some of the tables can adjust to be higher so students can stand, too. There also are regular chairs. "Our students are such individual learners and we wanted to make sure we gave opportunity for that individuality," Schloss said. "Old days, when we were kids, sit in your seat. Now, it's like if they learn better standing up, why wouldn't we let him stand?" Some classrooms have the ability to become larger, with a sliding door separating two classes. That's so teachers can do shared classes if they'd like. Learning areas outside the classroom also are large so students can come out and use their Chromebooks if needed. "You learn from each other, from students and learning to work together in collaboration," said Syed Abbas, president of AVG. "So, this type of space yields the ability to do that. You learn to work together in a room; you learn to work together in project-based learning." Looking up at the ceiling, wiring and the inner workings were left exposed, as they will be in all the new buildings. Murtaza Abbas, project manager for AVG, said part of that is to encourage learning just by looking around. "It's 21st century learning and that's what the exposure of the ceilings and the structure is all about," Murtaza Abbas said. "The kids should be learning in every space that they're in and have different ways to learn in collaboration spaces. It's all about flexibility." Cubbies were placed outside the classrooms so there could be more space inside the rooms. There's more technology now than there was in the building it is replacing. There are Clevertouch TVs, which are interactive and can move up and down, to replace digital whiteboards. In the gym, there's Lü, which is an interactive playground that can be displayed on the walls. Fine arts also has its own rooms now, which Schloss said was really important to the district. Each of the schools has the core of the building, which are the shared spaces — the gym, cafeteria, art spaces. Safety is also a big aspect of the new building. People must get buzzed both in and out of the building and teachers have the ability to lock everything down if needed. Outside, there's more room for cars than at the old Ely. Schloss said that should help with backed-up traffic and get cars off the road. There is now room for 36 cars to line up, whereas previously there were eight spots. Buses and staff parking will be separate. The purpose of the new buildings' designs ultimately was to meet students where they are, Schloss said. The district didn't want to just build a box school, but have something that encourages students to learn differently. "I think this is definitely a community space," Schloss said. "I can totally see where we can have the community come in and I could see Rotary meetings. I can see a lot of that kind of stuff happening. Getting companies to work with students in areas like this." Although Ely Elementary was not able to have its "pomp and circumstance" opening, Schloss said the district hopes to be able to have a grand opening sometime either in the fall or the spring. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.