Phase two of Taylor Independent School District’s 2022 Bond Program is underway for Main Street Elementary.
The district’s board of trustees unanimously approved the additions design for the campus during the meeting July 24. Stantec, a design and consulting company, is the designer of the project that is scheduled to be completed Spring 2025.
Improvements include: adding a new gymnasium, dining room and kitchen, changes to the front drop off area, drives and parking, a new bus canopy at the back of the school, parking surface repair and restripe and overall maintenance.
“It’s really going to increase the functionality of this campus to fit an elementary campus,” said Kerri Pierce, Main Street Elementary principal. “To be able to have our own gym and our own cafeteria that is connected to our side of the building is going to be huge.”
The campus, which used to be the old high school, is shared by MSE and the district’s central office. The students have to walk across the entire campus in order to use the cafeteria or gym, which are located on the opposite side.
With the school beginning to house more grade levels this coming year, Pierce thinks the changes will help increase efficiency.
“It takes almost a quarter of a mile to get from the far end of our campus all the way to the gym and the cafeteria,” Pierce said. “So that in and of itself is going to create less of a transition time.”
MSE faculty members were heavily involved with the designing process, Pierce said. The principal was allowed to select teachers to serve on a committee to bring up ideas and issues to the architects.
Then, the architects took the gathered information and came up with the renderings. Finally, the committee met again to come up with final touches, such as finishings, flooring and colors.
During the input stage of the designs, there were talks of moving the front office area. However, it will remain in the same location as a cost saving measure.
Current superintendent Devin Padavil said the community advisory committee looked at priorities and determined relocating the front office was one of the lower priority changes.
“We made the decision in order to save literally a million dollars, we would keep the front office, which was very functional, in the place that it is currently in,” Padavil said.
The committee will meet again in September to start picking out furniture. Pierce believes the furniture will also help increase functionality, working better for student collaboration and discourse.
