A project to repurpose five classrooms for early childhood education, among other additions, got underway Friday at Northwest Elementary School in La Salle.
The district hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the first phase of the expansion of the school.
Superintendent Brian DeBernardi said the goal of the expansion is to address the instructional needs of the students.
This gets us, classroom-wise, where we need to be.
La Salle Elementary Superintendent Brian DeBernardi
In addition to early childhood classrooms, three kindergarten to fifth grade classrooms will be added, two other spaces within the facility will be repurposed for breakout spaces and another two will be repurposed for educational use.
“We have always fought with available space, both at this building and the next,” DeBernardi said. “This gets us, classroom-wise, where we need to be. That’s what we’ve been shy of for so many years. I’m looking forward to saying a breath of fresh air, we get the library back, breathe of fresh air we don’t have music on a cart.”
The district received a funding allocation of $2.7 million through the American Recovery Plan, but the funds did not fully allow the district to expand to meet its needs. In 2022, the district submitted an application for the Early Childhood Application Grant.
DeBernardi said there were 238 applications for the grant throughout the state and Northwest Elementary was one of eight to receive an award and the only one in central Illinois. The district was awarded $3.2 million.
Work on the project will begin Monday, June 5. The project is divided into phases the first phase, expansion and repositioning of the parking lot are scheduled to be completed on Aug.1. Work will continue throughout the next school year. In the summer of 2024, a link between the existing facility and the new addition will be completed.
Matt Lamps, of BCA Architects in Ottawa, the primary architect for the project, said the project has had some supply chain issues, but there is no reason it shouldn’t be completed by the 2024-2025 school year.
“The district hopes this project will be beneficial to La Salle Elementary, the city of La Salle, and La Salle County,” DeBernardi said. “We hope to have a grand opening in August 2024. Thank you to everyone.”
