PERRY TWP – After nearly two years of construction, hundreds of Perry Local parents and students were excited to see the district’s three new elementary school buildings.
For many visitors to Saturday’s open day, the wait was worth it and they seemed impressed, if not excited.
While the parking lots of the new schools were filled with cars, the Perry Local School District held grand opening ceremonies at its three new elementary schools for grades kindergarten through fourth grade on Saturday morning and afternoon.
Superintendent Nate Stutz and Doug Brown, chairman of the Perry Local Board, gave speeches thanking the officials, contractors and community who made the construction of the new schools possible.
The new Watson Elementary is located at 420 Austin Ave. SW, the new Southway Elementary is at 4110 Southway St. SW, and the new Lohr Elementary is at the site of the old Lohr school at 5600 Richville Drive SW.
Related: Perry Local celebrates new elementary schools with ribbon cutting and open day
“It smells new here”
After the ceremonies, hundreds of parents and children flocked to the schools to marvel at the much larger classrooms, illuminated by natural light and equipped with Clevertouch smartboards.
Boys ran across the floors of the newly constructed gymnasiums, which no longer have to serve as cafeterias. Children played instruments in the huge music rooms.
“It smells new here,” said a woman entering the media center at Southway Elementary with her children.
All three schools, designed by architect TDA and built by Beaver Constructors and Shook Construction, are two stories high and have a similar floor plan. The Ohio Construction Facilities Commission provided most of the financing for the $82 million, about $9 million more than an earlier estimate, while property owners provided the rest through bonds.
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Watson was designed with an artistic theme. Southway’s theme is industrial, with markings representing a railroad line running through the hallways. And Lohr’s theme is agricultural, with shades of green that match the nearby fields.
Classrooms are located to the right of the main entrance at Watson and Lohr, with the cafeteria and gym to the left. At Southway, the layout is reversed, as it has the district’s only emotional behavior support room with an adjacent quiet room.
The three schools are spacious.
According to the developer’s website, each of the schools is approximately 6,000 square meters in size and designed to accommodate about 500 students.
By comparison, the old Watson Elementary School, built in 1957, was less than 35,000 square feet, according to the Stark County Auditor. Demolition began in Watson on Thursday.
Contractors have already demolished the old Lohr building. Natalie Raber, whose sons are in second and fourth grade at Lohr and described the new Lohr as “beautiful,” said she is happy that her children will have a new playground. Because of the construction work, they had to do without the old Lohr’s entire playground for two years.
“You could tell it was an old building,” she said. “And it was very nice to just have a new gym and a new separate cafeteria.”
Related: “I have been waiting for this day.” Perry Local ready for new elementary schools
“A dream classroom” in Southway
The teachers beamed with joy as parents and children passed by. They stood in their new, much larger classrooms with new tables, chairs and carpets depicting the alphabet or a map of the world.
“It’s a dream classroom,” said Southway kindergarten teacher Katrina Kortis.
Art teacher Aimee Sauls has divided her time between the old schools in Genoa and Lohr in recent years.
This year it will be based exclusively in Southway and will have a large art classroom at its disposal.
“It will feel like home,” Sauls said. “I’ll be here all week.”
Watson describes design as a “masterpiece”
Megan Trump, whose 7-year-old son Max is entering second grade at Watson Elementary, said the new Watson is a significant improvement over Whipple Elementary, which Max attended and which has been closed.
The classrooms are bigger. The new bathrooms are nicer, she said. And the new Watson Elementary and the new Southway and Lohr elementary schools have large music rooms.
The school is worth the money, she said.
“The kids definitely deserve it,” Trump said.
Nathan Kraft of Perry Township, whose grandson will attend Southway School, makes stained glass for churches. He raved about Southway’s design — rooms in the building are intuitive so children don’t feel lost, and there’s air conditioning, he said.
“They didn’t overlook a single detail in the school. It’s a masterpiece,” he said. “Everything was designed with passion. The floors. The walls. The signage. … I don’t think a child is left behind in this school. There’s a classroom for everyone.”
Amy Smith explored the halls of Southway with her 9-year-old daughter, Amber, who will be entering fourth grade at Watson.
“Oh my God! (Watson and Southway are) beautiful. Just beautiful. I just get goosebumps when I see all of this,” Smith said.
She praised the playgrounds, the details and the classroom.
“You can see personality in every classroom,” Smith said.
Dave Guertal, retired Whipple Elementary School principal who cut the ribbon at Watson’s opening, said he was very happy for Watson’s current staff and students to get such a “beautiful” building. He admitted, however, that he was a little jealous because the new school will have a “fully equipped clinic” in the administrative offices.
“We had a camp bed in the back closet (storage room),” he recalls.
Perry Local Schools is hosting another open house for its schools on Thursday. The first day of school is September 3rd.
Reach Robert at [email protected]. X, formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.
