WILLMAR - Willmar's newest school opens for classes today
Students and teachers got to know Lakeland Elementary School in December when they moved school supplies, books and curriculum materials in before the holiday break.
Classes will begin at 8:30 a.m. this morning and end at 3:20 p.m.
The opening of the school could affect traffic in southeastern Willmar. Crossing guards will be stationed in the front of the school across Lakeland Drive from the YMCA and at the corner of Lakeland and Olena Avenue.
The building - housing students in prekindergarten through fifth grade - has new furniture throughout, along with new technology. Each room has a large smart TV. For each grade, classrooms are in a pod surrounding a collaborative area that can be used for small group or large group study.
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The school's halls, commons area and gymnasium are decorated in shades of red, white, silver and black. Cardinals are painted on the floor of the gymnasium, along with numbers and the alphabet.
A public open house will be held later this month. An open house for the students and their families was held in December.
Lakeland, costing about $27 million, is the largest project in a $52.35 million construction program approved in 2015.
The building was originally scheduled to open last fall, but weather and construction delays led to the mid-year opening.
Lakeland was built to alleviate overcrowding at Roosevelt and Kennedy elementary schools. With fewer students in each, the district's elementary schools will have less crowded lunch periods and more suitable space for small-group study.
One of the next steps in the district's building program will be remodeling at Roosevelt and Kennedy to provide similar collaborative areas.
