Cedar Springs — The cranes and bulldozers are gone, the paint has dried, the grass has been seeded and the school year is well and truly underway at the brand-new Beach Elementary.
Just in time for the start of school, the district wrapped up a year-and-a-half-long, $22.5 million, bond-funded rebuild of the second- and third-grade elementary, which, prior to the completion of the project, was one of the oldest buildings on the Cedar Springs campus.
Aside from some refurbishments here and there, and a prototype wing that was installed during the 2023-24 school year, the vast majority of the Beach building is the result of new construction, said Diane Druckenmiller, the district’s assistant director of operations and logistics.
“I would say 90% of the building’s structure is new,” Druckenmiller said.
During a recent walk-through of the building, Druckenmiller showed off some of the building’s amenities, including widened hallways, safe and secure entrances, a new office area, floor-to-ceiling windows offering plenty of natural light, security cameras with facial recognition software, a new playground, a media center with heated floors, and expanded kitchen and cafeteria spaces.
‘I like the new classrooms because they feel a lot bigger than last year, and it’s not so crowded in there.’
— third-grader Autumn Vanderkam
Bigger & Better
Druckenmiller said the response to the new building — from students, parents and teachers alike — has been “very positive.” She said it took a few weeks for students to really settle into the new space, but all in all they acclimated pretty quickly.
Two such students are third-graders Crew Rutkowski and Autumn Vanderkam, both of whom remember what the old building was like.
Crew and Autumn shared some of their thoughts on the new school, and how it compares to the previous one.
“I like it. It’s bigger and it’s way wider,” Autumn said.
“I like it too. It’s way bigger,” Crew said, noting that he loves the addition of elevators to the school.
Autumn admitted that the new building has taken some getting used to. In such a comparatively spacious building, it’s been a challenge to keep track of where everything is.
But she’s learning her way around, and she’s finding that it’s good to have that extra space.
“I like the new classrooms because they feel a lot bigger than last year, and it’s not so crowded in there,” she said. “Last year it was so small in the classroom. … It was all squished together. But I feel like now we have a lot more room to work with.”
Asked to name the best thing about their new school, Crew and Autumn had to take a minute to think.
“I like the new music room. It has a lot more space in it,” Autumn said.
Crew, still pondering his answer, started to agree when something occurred to Autumn.
“But Crew,” she whispered, “What about the playground?”
“Oh yeah!” Crew responded.
“It’s way better than last year,” Autumn said.
“There’s, like, two decks,” Crew said, “and there’s, like, six or seven slides. And there’s double swings!”
With that, the two third-graders changed their vote, declaring the playground the best thing about the new Beach Elementary.
Crew and Autumn said they’re excited to be in their new and improved school, and Druckenmiller said the rest of the students share their outlook.
“It’s a lot to get used to, but the kids have been amazing.”
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