East Grand Rapids — It’s been all smiles at Woodcliff Early Childhood Center lately as the district’s youngest learners made the move to some brand-new classrooms, capping off the first phase of an expansion project at WECC that’s been underway since March 2024.
The expansion is the first item to see fruition from the district’s $159 million bond, approved by voters in November 2023.
The migration of students to the new classrooms frees up space for the second phase, which includes major renovation of existing classroom space in preparation for a broadening of services.
‘The kids are super excited, and the community response has been great. … The kids are loving it.’
— Courtney Van Heck, director of early childhood
“We’re actually expanding the capacity for WECC, so right now, luckily, we have enough open spaces so we can just shift our kiddos,” said Michelle Kastanek, executive assistant to the superintendent and board of education.
But even with the project still in process, preschoolers at WECC are already benefiting from the expansion. They’re learning in state-of-the-art environments, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, window seats, play areas, interactive smartboards, upgraded security features, storage cubbies, and bathrooms in every classroom.
And they’re making the most of the new spaces.
During a recent visit to WECC, 5-year-olds Elias Kennedy and Ben Laskey were playing with an assortment of toys in a play nook, cozily set into the wall of their classroom. The play nooks are another fun feature in the new WECC rooms.
“That’s Captain Hook!” Ben said, showing off one of the figures he and Elias had in front of them.
“And this is a mermaid with her fish,” said Elias, holding up figures of Ariel and Flounder from “The Little Mermaid.”
In another room, teacher Lori Teft was giving dancing directions to a group of preschoolers, spread out in a circle in their spacious new room.
“Dance, dance, dance!” Teft told the kids. “Now everybody clap high up!”
The students obliged with glee.
Courtney Van Heck, director of early childhood, said the new classrooms have been a big hit with students and parents alike.
“The kids are super excited, and the community response has been great,” Van Heck said. “The kids are loving it.”
Educators are loving the new spaces too, said Van Heck. With the new technology — like the smartboards — there’s been a learning curve, but the district is training teachers how to best integrate the tech into their lesson plans.
More Space, More Learning
The whole WECC expansion project — which, in addition to the new rooms, will also include the renovated spaces in phase two, and the installation of all-new playgrounds in phase three — is expected to be completed prior to the start of the 2025-26 school year, said Kastanek.
The growth of the building itself coincides with developments in programming, noted Van Heck, and the additional space opened up by the expansion will be filled with newly hired teachers and newly enrolled learners.
“We’re moving from five classrooms to nine classrooms,” Van Heck said. “Currently we have eight sessions of preschool and we’re moving to 10 sessions of preschool.”
Once finished, WECC will also offer more all-day and half-day programs, she added.
Kastanek said another benefit of the expansion is the added storage space for teachers, and Van Heck noted that added space will allow the district to free up the gym, currently being used as a makeshift classroom space.
The expanded WECC building will also house new dedicated offices for student support services and a room for the Board of Education, which currently meets at the middle school.
Read more from East Grand Rapids:
• Eighth-graders make mark with murals, with help from Disney artist
• District unveils designs for planned high-school expansion
