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Fact Box

Back in class

Several school

districts in the region began classes this week. First day for the remaining districts include:

Admiral Peary: Aug. 31

Altoona: Aug. 31

Bellwood-Antis: Sept. 1

Bishop Carroll: Aug. 31/Sept. 1

Bishop Guilfoyle: Aug. 31

Cambria Heights: Aug. 31

Central Cambria: Aug. 31

Claysburg-Kimmel: Sept. 1

Glendale: Aug. 31

Great Commission: Aug. 31

GACTC: Aug. 31

Hollidaysburg: Aug. 31

Huntingdon: Aug. 31

Juniata Valley: Sept. 1

Moshannon Valley: Sept. 2

Northern Bedford County: Aug. 26

Penn Cambria: Aug. 31

Philipsburg-Osceola: Sept. 2

Spring Cove: Aug. 27

Tussey Mountain: Sept. 8

Tyrone: Aug. 31

Williamsburg: Aug. 26

ROARING SPRING - Spring Cove Elementary Principal Betsy Baker is looking forward to having everyone under one roof this school year.

Baker, who previously drove about five minutes between East Freedom and Roaring Spring elementary schools to oversee both, is now at the helm of the newly constructed building.

The school is set to open its doors to 514 students Thursday morning as the 18-month, $14 million project comes to a close.

A dedication ceremony with limited seating and an open house is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday. Some students and parents got a preview at Meet the Teacher nights last week. Community open houses are scheduled at 7 p.m. Sept. 22, Oct. 20 and Nov. 10.

"The whole school is exciting for us at this point," Baker said. "It's just amazing how much easier things are."

The school has a combined gym and cafeteria with room for 600 folding chairs with storage areas for an easy switch from an assembly to lunch.

Grades are clustered throughout the H-shaped building - each with four classrooms and its own color-coded hallway. Kindergarten has five classrooms.

Two separate large group instruction areas can accommodate an entire grade for the morning arrival period and for assemblies and lessons for individual grades.

A science room with six work stations is available to all grades to participate in the school's hands-on program, Baker said.

There is a 36-laptop computer lab in the school, and each classroom is equipped with four computer stations along with a handicapped-accessible station.

The library features child-sized bookshelves, a storytime section and five computer stations adjacent to the computer lab.

The Parent Teacher Organization is holding a fundraiser to purchase equipment for two playgrounds - one for the lower grades and one for the upper grades. The goal is a little more than $90,000, and the group has raised about 10 percent so far, Baker said. Purchasing rubber chips for the playing surfaces accounts for about $40,000 of the cost, she said. The advantage of the rubber chips is they will last 50 years and won't get moldy like wood chips can.

The school is waiting on a state budget settlement to receive funding for interactive whiteboards for classrooms, but it has wired classrooms so students can hear their teacher's voice over an amplified sound system for a better classroom experience.

Bronze sculptor Jason Snowberger of Snowberger Studios of East Freedom is crafting a large bronze statue of a baby dragon emerging from an egg that will sit at the school's front entrance. Snowberger, who donated his time for the art project, has two children in the school - first-grader Kassy and third-grader Micah - who he said helped him with the sculpture.

Snowberger is also creating a new school logo, which will appear as a printed graphic in the school's entrance hallway, he said.