So. About that school?

Let me preface this whole thing with a description of the schools I grew up in/work in currently.
They're old. They are by no means unusable, but they were all built around the 1900s. In first grade, my classroom was moved to the cafeteria because they had to put a new roof on the building. Our room to keep our coats was an old dark and dingy locker room. It was icky. My high school? My mother went to my high school. They've added new parts onto it, but the whole place is drafty and there isn't nearly enough space.

The schools I work in at District #1 are all older schools except my mom's former school that was built in the 70s (it's still 36 years old). In all of them, the heat doesn't work right (or they do weird stuff like cranking it way up in the morning and then turning it off). There will be hot air billowing out in mid-May while everyone swelters. Air conditioning is just a warm memory as students and teachers stick to their chairs. We freeze in the winter and bake in the spring/summer.

Alma mater school has 2 (TWO!) brand never elementary schools. A primary school for kindergarten through 2nd grade and an intermediate school for 3rd - 5th grade. I walked in this school yesterday and I swear, I wanted to kiss the floor. It was beautiful! It has a lot of similarities to the new middle school in Blacksburg (which was modeled after another middle school around here). First and foremost - AIR CONDITIONING! Not that it did me any good in November, but I know it's there!

Each grade level is a color. Third grade is blue (I LOVE blue). Fourth is green. I'm thinking that fifth is purple, but I'm not sure. I haven't actually seen a fifth grade room yet. Anyway! The walls are a pretty pale blue color and the furniture is a darker blue. The carpet is blue and the desks are blue. Did I mention I love blue? They also have the coolest chairs. While I don't actually want to sit on them (they make me nervous) they're great for kids. The desks have indentations for pencils on the sides instead of the front.

The teacher's desk - OH the teacher's desk. It was beautiful. She has her own computer and LASER printer. There is a closet behind the desk for coats and such. The children have cubbies for their bookbags and coats. They have an extra set of boxes on top so that each child has their own square cubby for their supply tub or their lunch. Each room has a sink and a row of cupboards along the sink. There are two classes in one room. The teacher I was in team teaches with the woman she shares a room with. However, there is a divider that can be pulled if teacher's want their own classroom. Let me tell you, 50 kids in a room is a heck of a lot.

Instead of a bell, they have a bing bong noise that plays over the public address system. The bathroom lights? They turn off if no one is in there! They have a school messaging system that shows little messages all day long. So and so is celebrating a birthday. Recess is outside today. Conferences are next Monday.

However the things I'm truly interested in are the technological aspects of the school. Not only do they have a computer lab (instead of four computers in each room - which serve little to no purpose) but the classroom I was in also had a Smart Board! I am fascinated by Smart Boards. I got to use one a little while I was at Tech (in that classroom waaaaaaaay at the top of War Memorial where just about all of our graduate courses were held).

All in all, I can't wait to go back. Even though the teacher's in this district get paid less than in District #1. I think working in a new school DEFINITELY has it's benefits.