Louisville Elementary School

Latest Updates

• September 2019​

  Construction is substantially complete. Scroll down for photos of the project. ​

Project Details

Project Team

Details

Design Advisory Team

Scope of Work

FACILITY CONDITION

• Exterior building improvements such as repair/replace windows and doors
• Repair roof
• Replace interior doors
• Improvements to interior finishes such as carpet and paint
• Asbestos abatement
• Replace intercom
• Fire protection system improvements
• Electrical system upgrades including emergency generator
• Repair/replace fixtures such as casework
• Site improvements such as paving and drainage
• Restroom renovations
• Audio enhancement in every classroom

PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY 

• Provide adequate space for full-day kindergarten
• Provide adequate space for preschool
• Provide adequate Special Education space

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Upgrade playground equipment and surface material

SAFETY AND SECURITY

• Install camera/intercom security system
• Install electronic security controls
• Install security partitions

SUSTAINABILITY

• Conduct retro-commissioning and repairs
• Upgrade lighting
• Upgrade HVAC controls

INNOVATION

Louisville Elementary School is eligible to receive up to $200,000 in additional funds to implement facility improvements that support innovative teaching methods.

Innovation Project

The Innovation project at Louisville Elementary invested in renovations for the cafeteria to make the space more inviting and usable throughout the day as well as new furniture for classrooms to increase flexibility. The project aligns with two of BVSD's Innovation Guiding Principles: Learning is a Social Process and Mastery of Learning is Demonstrated in Multiple Ways.

Project Photos

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Project Description

To develop the school's project, staff worked together to develop responses to the following guiding questions: 

1. Briefly describe the project that you plan to implement with your Innovation Funds.

Cafeteria: Our cafeteria/multipurpose space presents many challenges in our school day.  It is located away from the playground and students must walk through our building in order to get to exit -- there is no direct exit.  In a building where class sizes can be as large as 120 students, this is disruptive to the learning day.  The cafeteria/ multipurpose room does not have the basic aesthetics that make it a pleasant place to learn and eat. Feedback from students indicates that the space is uncomfortable, to the point where it causes anxiety for some--  lighting is dim (no natural light), paint is antiquated, and the sound presents sensory issues to many of our students during lunch.  Although we use this space as a gym in our ABC schedule, it is never used as a learning space for grade-level activities and it could be used for science experiments, art projects, and group activities.  We are proposing to spend approximately $40,000 on upgrades in this space. Basic upgrades include sound paneling, adding an exterior door, a concrete slab for a walkway, and solar tubes/pendant lighting.

Classroom Furniture: Flexibility and variety of classroom furniture is the main focus -- $160,000 will be allocated to this purpose. For flexibility, this means different types of learning spaces according to Thornburg's research on flexibility of learning space. Specifically, we will add moveable furniture that can flex into different arrangements in classrooms. Student survey data indicates that students want to be comfortable and feel welcome and able to engage while learning so providing a variety of chair and table types to create seating arrangements will help achieve this goal. 
 

2. How will you involve stakeholders in the decision-making process concerning the use of the innovation funds for your site?

During our August Learning Improvement Days, we invited our Innovation Team, Kiffany Lychock and David Eggen to our school in order to explain the purpose behind the innovation funds and the processes that would occur.  As a staff, we determined that the committee would make the decision around the use of innovation funds.

Staff were then provided with an opportunity to apply to the innovation team.  Teacher representatives were selected from the following grade level bands:

• K/1 - Lis Werlin/Jen Borum
• 2/3- Michelle Laydon
• 4/5- CJ Holloway
• Specialists- Jayme Martin
• Parent representatives - Katy Chapman, Martin Ogle, and Jennifer Wilson
• Administration -- Jessica Bracken/ Jeff Miller

We met with our innovation team in order to connect with the first step in”Design Thinking,” we decided to visit schools that had landed on similar theories of action (Kohl, Fireside, and Ryan) and designed a student survey.

Our school tours occurred and we discussed ideas that we liked and then connected those ideas to student feedback in our survey.  Three concepts were put forward for consideration: Outdoor Learning Spaces, Flexible Furniture, and a Multipurpose Learning Space.

Our team created an empathy map from student feedback and shared it with a “focus group” of teachers who have children at Louisville Elementary School and took feedback regarding these three idea ideas.  

This process and data were shared at two staff meetings.  

Our process was then shared with our staff and a shared decision feedback protocol was used, asking the question: “Which of these ideas are you excited about and how will it connect to our innovation guiding principles?”

Our committee took staff feedback and made our final decision.
 

3. How does your project support The Success Effect? (BVSD's Strategic Plan-Mission/Vision/Goals)

This project directly supports the District’s Mission to provide "engaging learning opportunities so that all children thrive" as well as with the District’s Vision to provide "a comprehensive and innovative approach to education." In the District’s Goals, it is more specifically stated that we will meet the "unique learning needs of each student and... create meaningful and engaging opportunities for each child." And, specific to the spaces we create, we are focusing on creating a "safe, healthy and inclusive environment."
 

4. Review the Innovation Guiding Principles and discuss with your stakeholders. How will your project align to one or more of the guiding principles?

Our staff believes that our innovation proposal will help meet the following Innovative Guiding Principles (IGPs):

• Learning fosters a culture of curiosity and risk-taking.
• Mastery of Learning is demonstrated in multiple ways.

These beliefs were highlighted in a staff survey and then validated by our committee.  As we move into future thinking, we will want to connect these principles to professional development and school mission/vision.

5. Determine what your learning outcomes are for your innovation. What will happen as a result of this innovation?

For Classroom Furniture
IGP: Learning fosters a culture of curiosity and risk-taking.
Student/Learner Outcomes:

• Students will have the opportunity to access multimodal learning and collaboration to demonstrate in authentic outcomes.  
• Students will have the opportunity to create spaces for socratic seminars, group work, and project-based work.

IGP : Mastery of Learning is demonstrated in multiple ways:
Student/Learner Outcomes:

• Student will engage in authentic problem-solving in real life situations.  
• Students will demonstrate in multiple ways their learning and brainstorming. 
• Students will take ownership of space and their learning.    

For Cafeteria
IGP: Learning fosters a culture of curiosity and risk-taking.
Student/Learner Outcomes:

• Students will have a greater sensory calming experience that will promote learning for the rest of the day. 
• Students will be given the choice of where they sit in an effort to increase risk taking and raise personal responsibility.
• Students and staff will be able to access the space as a flexible learning space.

IGP : Mastery of Learning is demonstrated in multiple ways:
Student/Learner Outcomes:

•  The students will be able to utilize a common,  multi-purpose area (indoor and outdoor) to allow classes more flexibility in the way that learning outcomes are presented. 
•  Students will display improved social/emotional well being in the classroom as a result of fewer sensory distractions.

6. Determine how you will measure the progress towards and achievement of your learning outcome. What is your plan for gathering data to show that the change is positively impacting learning at your site?

We will measure our progress according to descriptors in Educator Effectiveness Standards 3.a (Child/Adolescent Development) and 3.f (Student Collaboration).  3.a was selected as it addresses the individual needs of students and 3.f was selected as a means of supporting the inclusive learning community the we know is a core value of Louisville Elementary School. 

We will design a means of communicating specific student projects and staff outcomes in a social media format.  Because students provided initial feedback, we will want to design a survey at the end of the 2019-20 school year to obtain student perceptions of their learning environment.

Specific Educator Effectiveness Descriptors that we would want to see impacted and corresponding student outcomes are as follows:
 

7. What professional learning and support might your staff might need in order to reach the desired learning outcomes for the space?

We will invite staff to district PD opportunities at Exemplar schools and discern professional development that is supportive of student learning outcomes -- Project Based Learning or Leaders of Their Own Learning.