New LCSD School Expanded to Serve More Pre-K Students
West Park Elementary School Construction on Track to Open in Fall 2021
August 18, 2020 – In November 2019, Lake County voters approved a bond measure that allowed the Lake County School District (LCSD) to generate the matching funds required for the district to receive a $20.8 million Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant from the State of Colorado. The BEST grant is helping to fund a new school for Lake County students in preschool through second grade on the West Park Elementary School site. Excavation began in May 2020.
Input and guidance for the new building was provided by the district’s Design Advisory Group (DAG) (comprising staff and community members) to Dynamic Program Management, the district’s owner’s representative, and to Hord Coplan Macht, the project’s architectural firm. The new PK–2 building will include spaces that support student collaboration and enhance LCSD’s expeditionary learning spirit, and it will include a large gym for student and community use.
Recently, the original design was altered to add two additional classrooms (a total of 3,010 square feet) to address a shortage of pre-kindergarten classrooms for students aged three to five. The new building will have eight pre-k classrooms.
“We are looking forward to opening these additional classrooms to support the preschool needs of the community,” said Holly DeBell, Director of Early Childhood Programs. “This year, our current pre-k waitlist is 17 students, and last year, the list was 42 students.”
“Our architects, Hord Coplan Macht, produced a flythrough rendering that reflects the DAG’s request for a sustainable, daylight filled building that is connected to the outdoors,” said LCSD Superintendent Dr. Bethany Massey. (Click here to watch video) “The renderings are really helpful in bringing to life how the new space will offer our students rich opportunities of ideation, collaboration and discovery within and beyond the natural world, enhancing our expeditionary learning approach to schooling for our youngest students.”
Demolition of the old West Park school is slated for the fall of 2021 after students have started in the new school building. Paving and final landscaping will take place in the summer of 2022.To learn more about the new building, visit https://www.lakecountyschools.net/our-next-chapter/.
