Al Meiklejohn Elementary still has that new-school smell.
Walking into the brand new school, it’s obvious hundreds of small feet have not yet stomped the carpet, palmed the walls or horsed around on the playground.
Arvada’s newest elementary school, tucked in the Village of Five Parks community in west Arvada, will open its doors to students for the first time Tuesday, Aug. 22.
For the past year, school officials have been busily planning to make sure both teachers and students have what they need for that first day of class.
Organizing a school large enough to eventually accommodate more than 760 students from scratch is a large but exciting task, said Meiklejohn principal Kurt Braginetz.
Braginetz and other staff members have been working hard in recent weeks to make sure everything is done before Aug. 22, when about 200 kindergarten through sixth-grade students attend class.
Turning the Meiklejohn building into a functioning school has been done one delivery box at a time.
“Each day the office gets filled with items and then we disperse them to different areas of the school,” Braginetz said. “Every time a box comes in we get excited and run to set it up.”
The day’s shipment of boxes on Aug. 10 brought the school flag. In an unofficial ceremony, Braginetz ran the flag up the pole as soon as the box opened.
Aug. 10 also marked the day the auditorium sound system was tested. Braginetz popped in an Eagles CD to make sure it sounded crystal clear.
Preparing a new school for opening takes a lot of dedication, according to Meiklejohn facility manager Sue Pitt.
Jobs range from testing the cafeteria stoves to filing thousands of books in the school library.
On Aug. 10, with only 12 days to go until opening, Pitt said she was a little nervous about getting everything done before the start of school.
“Things are working, but we have to get the kinks out,” she said.
Most of her cleaning equipment, like floor buffers, leaf blowers and other maintenance items had yet to arrive.
But beyond the jitters, Pitt said she has faith the school will be ready by the time those first children sit at their desks.
She has worked at other schools in the past, but Pitt has a personal interest in Meiklejohn.
“I always wanted a new school because I will never have a new home,” Pitt said. “When they bring in the big equipment I make sure to tell them, ‘Don’t scratch my paint.’ This school is just so beautiful.”
For the last two weeks, Meiklejohn teachers could be seen rolling carts loaded with workbooks down the halls to their new rooms.
Giving the bare-bones, bleached white rooms a teacher’s personal touch can be an exciting but daunting task, first-grade teacher Melissa Houlihan said.
Although the rooms were designed as classrooms, Houlihan said there are some areas where designers missed the mark.
For example, many of the classrooms were designed without any bulletin boards. But Houlihan said Braginetz is working on securing those for teachers soon.
“We are working out a space that has never been used as a classroom,” Houlihan said. “It was designed as a classroom, but not by teachers.
“They (school designers) did a good job, but we are still trying to figure out how to best use the space.”
Students will not be the only people getting lost in Meiklejohn this school year. The building is just as new for teachers as it is for kindergartners.
“I am sure I will accidentally take the kids to the gym instead of the cafeteria our first lunch-time,” Houlihan said.
Houlihan and other teachers are excited about the opportunity to work in a new school. Not only does it mean new equipment, but a fresh chance to shape a school’s vision and identity.
“We get to create the new traditions and the ‘way we do it here,’” Houlihan said. “All other schools already have that ‘how we do it here’ mentality from previous staff. I am excited about the new facility, but more excited about the new working environment.”
Linda Watson, sixth-grade teacher at Meiklejohn, agreed that the new school presents teachers with a unique opportunity.
“I think it is great to be able to set the atmosphere, we have a fresh slate,” she said.
Although the school is fresh out of the box, Braginetz said it wouldn’t take long for the building to take on its own personality.
“The kids will break it in,” Braginetz said. “They will look at everything, touch everything and explore everything.”