Renovating Our Heating System

On July 28th, Hander Plumbing craned in the new boilers and equipment necessary to finalize the renovation of our new heating system. We have converted from a steam heat system to a hot water heat system. Pictured to the left is the 175 ton crane extending from the front of the building and lowering one of 2 pressure tanks into the boiler room.

The picture on the right shows one of the 4 new boilers that were craned over the school and lowered into the boiler room through a hole cut in the roof. Our new boiler system will be more efficient and dependable than the previous outdated system.

Flooring is Going Smooth

All of the tile flooring has been installed throughout the addition. Tile flooring is being used in each room as well as the bathrooms. The classrooms for our younger students downstairs have more tile than carpet. You can see from the picture that different colors of tile have been used to create a pattern.

Terrazzo flooring is being poured in the entries to each classroom and in the hallway on the 2nd floor. The picture on the left shows half of the terrazzo poured in the hallway upstairs.

Book Fair Fun!

As you can see from the pictures, I was "silly-stringed" for meeting our goal at the Book Fair. Our goal was to have our total sales reach $8,000. With everyone's help, our total sales reached almost $10,000. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's book fair! A BIG thank you to our parents who volunteered throughout the book fair to make it so successful!

Progress Continues on the Addition

The ceiling grid and lights are in place on the 2nd floor and are currently being installed on the 1st floor. Ceiling tiles will be installed once the work above the ceiling is completed. Larson Contracting is also installing cabinets, countertops and cubbies in each room throughout the addition.

Hanging the Ceiling and the Cabinets Come Next!

Cabinets and cubbies were delivered this week for all of the classrooms in the new addition. As painting was finished up this week in the classrooms, they will begin to hang the ceiling grid next week. These rooms will begin to look more like classrooms in the coming weeks!

Primering and Painting

Shaw's of Okoboji has completed one week of primering and painting and will plan to finish up next week. The crew started the week painting all of the door frames a maroon color to match the existing building door frames. The crew then moved on to primering the new concrete block before painting the new walls a beige color.

You Can Clearly See the Progress

The windows have been installed in the 2nd floor classrooms and they have started installing the windows on the lower level as well. Shaw's of Okoboji will begin primering and painting the concrete block walls of the addition next week.

FFA Week February 20-26

Elementary students participated in a coloring contest in recognition of FFA week. Thank you to Rich Martin, FFA advisor, and his students for including the elementary students in their week of activities.

2nd Floor Classrooms are Starting to Take Shape

Pictured here is the teacher work space that will separate 2 classrooms on the 2nd floor. Within this work space for 2 teachers will be storage, a countertop work area with teacher phone and computer. This workspace will have windows and will be completed with drywall and paint.

As you can see from this picture, the walls have drywall installed in the upstairs hallway. Windows will also be installed throughout the hallway. These windows will be reused from the existing kindergarten hallway downstairs.

The 2nd floor starts to take shape!

This picture shows the top landing of the stairs. From this landing, students and staff will travel downstairs and you can also see the door frame where students will enter into the classroom furthest to the west. Masons will be finishing their work this week with the concrete block walls on the 2nd floor. 

To the Top They Must Go!

On Wednesday, January 19th, a crane lifted all of our air handling units onto the roof of our addition. There were 13 units added to the roof to meet the air handling needs of the approximately 10,000 square feet of new space. The bricklayers completed the exterior brick last week and have moved indoors to the 2nd floor and are laying block for the upstairs classroom walls.

The 2nd Floor Concrete is Finished!

On Thursday, January 13th, 7 cement trucks were pumped into the 2nd level of our addition as they poured and finished the concrete floor. Bricklayers will be finishing the outside brick work this week and starting the block walls on the 2nd level.

Okoboji Preschool Students Enjoy their new iPod Touch

Okoboji Elementary preschool students each received an iPod touch when they returned from Winter Break. Our preschool classrooms are enjoying a 1:1 learning environment. Preschool staff are demonstrating and teaching their students the proper care for the devices as they begin their first day back from break.

Preschool students have also had the opportunity to explore with the new devices as they try some of the new apps that were preloaded for the students. The apps were selected by the preschool teachers to provide new and extended learning opportunities as they follow their lesson plans and prepared activities.