GRANDVILLE, Mich. — It was time to say goodbye to traditional classrooms at Grandville’s Oakestown Intermediate School.
The new school for fifth and sixth graders transformed old classrooms into large, spacious working environments where students can get hands-on with their studies.
The additional space has also allowed the school to build new science labs, a choir room and an art room.
"We had art and music several times on carts and now those teachers have those classrooms which makes so much sense for the learning environment, for [teachers] and for our kids," Grandville Superintendent Roger Bearup said.
In addition to the remodeled classrooms, interactive STEAM programs will be implemented throughout the school day to allow students to explore different interests.
The material covered during STEAM sessions would cover science, technology, engineering, art and math.
"We just think it's an opportunity to combine resources, to combine students, combine staff, to bring us all together and get us better at what we do," Principal Brian Mulder said. "We already did things really well and we're hoping to bring it to that next level. This building gives us that opportunity to do that."
Oakestown will also have "houses" for students to join this year. With an enrollment of over 800 fifth and sixth graders, students will be assigned houses with other peers and teachers. This would help create a smaller environment for such a large group of students.
"The house system is used by schools all over the United States," Mulder said. "The house system turns into an umbrella that pulls in all the different parts of our puzzle into one place."