Seldom does a minute pass in Keene without someone asking when the community can cut the ribbon on the sparkling, new, immensely improved Keene Elementary School.
Superintendent Darlene Callender is accustomed to the questions. So far, she has only general answers.
“People are very interested in when the ribbon cutting is going to be,” she said, “and that hasn’t been determined. We want to make sure the building is ready for the opening of school Aug. 23. We want to get our teachers in their new classrooms the week before.”
A lot of what you can see of the elementary from U.S. 67 is what you’re going to get.
There are more and bigger classrooms, renovated offices and a slightly altered floor plan.
The primary reason is growth, maybe not who’s moving into the district today but certainly how Keene is expected to be bursting at the seams in about 10 years.
It took a $15 million bond issue to address those concerns.
“We’re adding on to the elementary school, remodeling the current elementary, adding classrooms at the junior high and high school, connecting the junior high and high school to make it one big building, though they’ll still be two separate campuses,” assistant superintendent Stan Rhone said.
“We’re winding down construction at the new elementary. It ought to be ready in three weeks. That’s what people see from the highway. We’re also redoing the existing elementary in three phases. The first phase should be ready Aug. 17. We’re redoing classrooms and making them bigger. The office is now at the opposite end of the building. After the first phase, we’ll move into the second and third phases. Hopefully, all that will be complete a year from now.”
Callender added: “Our goal is to start the next school year with all construction finished. But you never know with weather. We want it done right.”
Classroom activities have not been disturbed, Callender said.
“The construction crews were very cautious during TAKS testing. They kept noise to a minimum.”
Progress told Keene taxpayers it was time for the district to move forward. Current enrollment is 834.
“We expected to grow, and we wanted to be prepared for it,” Rhone said. “We needed additional classrooms.”
Keene has had to request waivers from Austin on Pre-K through fourth-grade classes on the wrong side of the 22-to-1 student-teacher mandated ratio.
“Some of those grades have been right on the line,” Rhone said.
Callender added: “We hope we don’t have to ask Austin for waivers anymore. We will have to relocate some classes as renovation goes through.”
For most districts, the greatest result of growth is added average daily attendance money from the state.
For most districts, the least pleasant result of growth is cramped facilities.
“We don’t want to have too many students per teacher,” Callender said. “So far, we haven’t had issues with that. You have to have the space for classrooms, and you have to have the teachers, especially with 22-to-1. Even in the older grades, you don’t want overcrowding because teachers need time with the students for them to understand the skills being taught.
“When you schedule classes, sometimes you have one that’s much larger and another that’s much smaller. It takes constant balancing to get the kids the schedules and the courses they need and having rooms large enough to hold a full class.”
Keene also continues to move forward in curriculum. Keene and Hill College will combine to offer dual-credit classes this year.
“We’re excited about that,” Callender said.
Keene will also be part of the county vocational course-sharing program devised by the county’s school districts. A student in one district can enroll in another district’s vocational offering.
“It’s great,” Callender said. “I’ve never seen a program like that quite so good. Cleburne, being larger, can be self-sufficient. Keene, being smaller, can’t provide as many courses. This gives us an opportunity to offer them.”
Keene ISD
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Work continued Wednesday on construction of the new addition to Keene Elementary School. Superintendent Darlene Callender said the addition, which contains a new entrance as well as offices and classrooms, is expected to be ready for students’ arrival next month. Pete Kendall/Times-Review
Discussion
Keene growing, building
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