By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — When Houlton Elementary School students report for classes in a few weeks, some noticeable changes will welcome them.
The RSU 29 school board approved a number of renovation projects over the summer. Aside from paving the parking lot, a new bus storage area is being created to the right of the school and numerous changes are underway inside the building.
“The elementary school has been our focus this summer,” Superintendent Mike Hammer said. “We are starting to think several years down the road with our renovations.”
Because of increased enrollment in the districts pre-kindergarten classes, an additional classroom needed to be created. In the past, the district had two pre-K classrooms that accommodated four classes as students in that grade only go for half a day.
The district is projecting 86 pre-K students for Houlton Elementary School and an additional 15 at Wellington Elementary this school year.
Other projected enrollment figures for the district (with HES and Wellington figures combined) are as follows: kindergarten, 108; first grade, 96; second grade, 107; third grade, 88; fourth grade, 93; fifth grade, 94; sixth grade, 101; seventh grade, 90; eighth grade, 105; ninth grade, 101; 10th grade, 92; 11th grade, 99; and 12th grade, 78.
An additional second grade classroom was created due to large class sizes, which created a need for extra space for the district’s interventionist. A Title I classroom was also better defined with the addition of a new wall in the center of the building.
To create additional classroom space, the amount of space devoted to the library was reduced, Hammer said.
Another major change at HES is the creation of a bus storage area at the school. In the past, RSU 29 has leased space from the town of Houlton at the municipal garage located on the Bangor Road to store the district’s busses. The new bus storage area will be to the left of the school.
The district’s transportation director, Joseph Schneider, also had an office at the municipal garage. To accommodate Schneider, a new office building is going to be built at the elementary school. That building could be in the form of a modular storage shed that would be insulated for the winter and come complete with utilities and a heater.
Hammer said the work would be finished inside in plenty of time for teachers to get into their classrooms to prepare for school. RSU 29 students head back to school. Teacher workshops will be held Aug. 28-29, with students returning to the classroom on Tuesday, Sept. 3.