On May 27, over one hundred third graders left Mid-Prairie West Elementary School for summer break. When they return as fourth graders on August 25, they may not recognize the school they left behind.

These students are the only group that will return to West from the year prior. Now that East and West are grade-alike attendance centers, with pre-k to first grade at the former and second to fourth grade at the latter, things will be a little different. And at West Elementary in Wellman, that also means a reconfiguration of the school building itself.

“I wouldn’t say it’s taken longer than what people would anticipate, but I would say that’s probably accurate in the capacity of we’ve been very patient throughout the process and very due-diligent with our funding,” Superintendent Brian Stone says as we tour work in progress in early July.

Because the district has been “kind of keeping our strings tight” with the $8.7 million in General Obligation bond funds voters approved in November 2023, it has been able to achieve more than originally planned when it comes to West, where additional classroom space and paving and parking improvements were on the official docket.

An ADA-compliant boys and girls bathroom, for example, was “something that we wanted to do, if we could do,” and thanks to careful spending, it is being constructed as we speak.

“We’ve just been very diligent through the whole process to get so that we’re just really getting what we need for our students and our staff,” Stone says. “When people come here this fall, they’re going to be like, ‘What’s happened here?’ Because it’s going to be that different.”

That difference will be apparent from the moment they drive up. On the outside, the work that began in 2024 with repaving the parking lot and creating a separate drop-off/pick-up loop continues with a paved emergency-access lane and blacktop surfacing around student play areas. And Kalonial Lawn Care is refreshing the landscape with mulch and flowers that echo the Golden Hawks’ signature black and gold.

“We’re being pretty aggressive,” Stone says. “I like things to look nice. People like things to look nice.”

Inside, not only are two 950-square-foot classrooms being added, but space is being reconfigured to better meet student needs and improve traffic flow. Where walls have been obstacles, they are being removed; where walls are needed, they are being added. The same is true of doorways; when students return, they’ll find easier access to everything from the main hallway.

“[Principal Robin Foster has] just really done a really, really good job of repurposing our current space,” Stone says. “It’s just literally going to look like a new building.”

A case in point is the library space, which is being reworked into a conference room and classrooms. The library is finding a new location with outdoor views and access, and thanks to a $101,473 WCRF grant awarded this spring, it will be modernized with age-appropriate signage, flexible seating, collaborative work areas, improved shelving, and an updated book collection to better support student learning and instructional use.

And going forward, West Elementary will be carpet-free, so custodians can continue to “absolutely rock it” with their impressive floor-polishing skills.

“A really big shout-out to them,” Stone says, clearly pleased with their ability to work together and complete summer projects on time, even when they have to push it. “They really work well together.”

When students and staff return, they will discover improved flexibility and functionality in their school.

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While work is underway at West Elementary, a few blocks east at Mid-Prairie High School, the new Activities Center has been open for several months, and “Kids love it,” Stone says. “It turned out absolutely spectacular.”

Also funded by the $8.7 million GO bond, the Activities Center houses a spacious weight room and wrestling gym on the upper level, and concessions and bathrooms on the lower level facing the football field and track.

With space for around 50 students in the weight room and 27 pairs on the wrestling mats, and ADA bathrooms fit to serve crowds, things are possible here that weren’t in the previous facilities. And every detail has been considered, from germ-killing UV lights to easily cleaned shower/locker rooms to plentiful storage space.

“One of the things that’s nice about this is we’ve already seen an increase in the number of students who want to take weight training during the school day,” Stone says. “Which is great, because then kids aren’t coming here maybe as early in the morning or staying as late.”

In a world where anticipating future needs is basically impossible – “Who knew five years ago we would have a robotics class that needs a place to bring their robots?” – the multipurpose Activities Center is a boon to the district. “The indoor facility is just a big, incredible facility,” Stone says, and flexible enough to accommodate an “endless” range of activities and groups at all grade levels.

Across the parking lot, the old weight room remains, but work is underway to transform it into an art room, complete with kiln for pottery firing and new windows that provide natural light and views.

The older locker rooms are getting a refresh too, with epoxy flooring, flecked with black and gold, and fresh paint. That high-performance flooring, applied by Roder Epoxy of Washington, is well on its way to becoming another Mid-Prairie signature; Stone, who first had it applied in his own home, is such a fan, he’s advocating for it everywhere.

“The art room will have that same finish, and we’re doing more and more classrooms with it as well, because there’s just no maintenance to it,” he says. “Once it’s done, it’s done. It looks nice. It’s easy to keep clean.”

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This past May, when some 1,300 Mid-Prairie students finished their final tests and headed out into the summer sun, they may have thought the doors would close to their school buildings and silence would settle in for the season. But they would have been wrong.

Summer is when a different kind of work takes place at schools. Find out what Mid-Prairie was up to when you return this fall.