WASHINGTON — Hundreds of students in Washington, D.C., are returning to school with new or updated facilities.
Five buildings are opening to students after years of construction in order to ensure students have equal access to a 21st century learning experience.
"Let's get it going," Coolidge High School’s principal Semanthe Bright said.
Bright has worked at the Northwest D.C. school for four years and gave WUSA9 a tour of the new facilities.
"This is now a common area we’re going to use for student collaboration," Bright explained.
The building features five shared spaces areas where students and teachers can work outside of the classroom.
"The students are able to come in and do what they need to do there," Bright described how the shared spaces will be used.
"Bing a teacher, bring their other peers and actually do the work in those areas," Bright said.
The school is equipped with smartboards in every classroom, a new atrium-style cafeteria, a daycare and community health center.
As a part of DCPS' goal to ensure schools are safe and inclusive for all students, Coolidge High School has several gender-neutral bathrooms.
"DCPS has been a leader in supporting LGBTQ students through our policies, programs and affinity groups. Last year, we were among the first public school systems in the nation to let families select 'non-binary' when indicating the gender of their child on our enrollment forms," DCPS press secretary Shayne Wells wrote in a statement.
Coolidge High School is also introducing spaces within the building dedicated to its career academies.
"In our mass media studio, our students primary focus on media production," Bright said.
Bright explained media production students graduate with an Adobe certification.
Students enrolled in the school’s health science academy will graduate as certified nursing assistants (CNAs).
School leadership is working to have students also graduate with a pharmacy tech license.
"The last one is our early college academy. The early college academy is our newest academy in the school, and we are really proud of that because those students are going to receive an associate's degree from Trinity University when they graduate," Bright said.
DCPS said Coolidge's building was oversized for its student population and decided to open Ida B. Wells Middle School inside of the facility.
Ida B. Wells Middle School highlights:
- New classrooms to serve up to 550 students. The school exceeded their enrollment projections of 150 students.
- Modern classrooms
- Science classrooms
- Art, music and physical education spaces
Three elementary schools that underwent modernization construction include Kimball Elementary, Maury Elementary and Hyde-Addison Elementary.
Hyde-Addison Elementary School highlights:
- A new 30,000-square foot addition to connect both the Hyde and Addison Buildings. Prior to the modernization the school did not have indoor physical education spaces or art and music classrooms.
- The new addition includes the following:
- New main entrance vestibule and welcome center
- New state of the art media center that includes a maker’s space
- New space for an art program
- New multi-purpose space including performance stage, dining, and gymnasium
- New fully-functioning cooking kitchen
- Both the Hyde Building and the Addison Building have been deemed to be historic structures in Georgetown. Their existing characteristics remain, but portions of the interior were renovated as part of the current modernization.
Kimball Elementary School highlights:
- Complete modernization that includes the renovation of a historic building and the construction of a new addition.
- The new construction contains classrooms that wrap around a newly created courtyard, which will have space for tricycle tracks, a small amphitheater, planting beds and an outdoor prep station.
- Due to the STEM heavy curriculum at Kimball Elementary School, there are specific features such as a food prep lab and science workshop.
- There are two student accessible rooftop terraces for outdoor learning opportunities.
Maury Elementary School highlights:
- 84,000 square feet.
- New classrooms to serve up to 540 students, which is anticipated to capture future growth. Given the small footprint, the design is aimed to maximize the play space outdoors.
- New library with a hands-on project lab.
- Modernized science, music, and art classrooms.
The new schools opened in wards 2, 4, 6 and 7.
"DCPS is committed ensuring equity is at the forefront of our work to set students up for success in college, career, and life. The mayor's ambitious investment in modernizing our school facilities has allowed DCPS to provide students with 21st century learning environments, regardless of what school they attend," Wells said.