Tillamook School District’s largest bond project complete

Jordan’s note: This article was originally published in September 2018.

Efficiency was the goal for Tillamook School Districts single largest and most expensive project made possible from the $4 million bond – with $1.92 million match from the state.

A three-tiered project, South Prairie Elementary received an overhaul of their parking, student drop-off and pick-up area, built a new cafeteria on the west side of the building and will be finishing a new covered play structure in the coming weeks which will be attached to the gymnasium.

But for many, the star of the project is the cafeteria.

“The value of this, when you look at feeding kids, is you increase the amount of education time you have,” Superintendent Randy Schild said.

Upgrading from around 1,500 square feet of space to the new roughly 6,000 square foot new cafeteria is finally allowing an entire grade level at South Prairie to have lunch at the same time.

And with two grade levels, that time is significant.

TSD’s school for second and third grade students, South Prairie would start lunch at around 10:45 a.m. and for following two hours every school day would cycle through the entire school until every student was fed.

The new cafeteria feeds the students in 45 minutes.

“Having meal time in the middle of the day means their bodies are fueled to learn in the afternoon,” Thenell said, “And behavior has gone down in the afternoon too.”

“We’ve been able to use our staff in different ways,” Principal Karen Thenell said. “We’ve added an art literacy program because instead of using staffing for duty coverage, we have more time for them to teach.”

South Prairie students now also have 45 minutes a week for physical education.

The cafeteria is also a boon to the roughly 50 staff members at South Prairie because now there is a space large enough with technology available for them to gather and have meetings or trainings.

“Our quality of life has really improved,” she said. “It’s amazing what the addition of one space can add to a schoolhouse.”

The re-engineered pick-up and drop-off space is making life much better for parents and guardians at the beginning and end of the school day.

“They would come in, circle in and out the same way and things would just get terribly congested,” Schild said, “There were only one or two drop-off spots along the curb. It was very, very ineffective and slow. People lined up all the way to the highway. And pick-up was worse.”

Employing a similar strategy to East Elementary’s redesign, there are now five or six spots on the curb where drivers can pull alongside to drop off their student and pull out without waiting for the vehicles in front of them.

“We’ve completely changed our whole flow of traffic,” Schild said.  

Both the parking and cafeteria part of the $2 million project were finished before students walked through the doors after Labor Day.

“Eagle Mountain Construction did just a fantastic job,” Schild said, “They had every opportunity to say, ‘We can’t get this done on time.’”

Part way through the summer-long construction, Schild said there was a two-week delay on pivotal materials. Instead of using it as a crutch, Schild said the 30-person Eagle Mountain crew ended up working seven days a week, sometimes up to 12 hours a day and through Labor Day.

“And on day one we had kids in there eating,” Schild said.

The final piece of South Prairie’s current upgrade will be erecting the covered play structure. Connected to the gymnasium, the structure was partially funded through efforts by the PTC and will double the space students can utilize during poor weather recess. It will feature areas for students to play basketball or tetherball and also measures 6,000 square feet.

“It’s as big as the gym and will double our space,” Schild said.

More projects made possible through the bond are actively being planned – and finishing – throughout the school year, with a large-scale remodel summer 2019 that will see East Elementary’s entire roof removed.

“You get used to what you have,” Schild said, “But when you can add to it, that’s really fulfilling.”