New East Brainerd Elementary Opens Next Week With Over 900 Students

  • Thursday, August 6, 2015

The new East Brainerd Elementary School throws open its doors next week for over 900 students at the former David Brainerd School site.

Principal Bryan Stewart said teachers and staff are excited. He said, "They love it. Almost all of them been here for several days on their own time getting their classrooms ready."

He added, "It's a beautiful building. It's going to be the Mega School."

Architect Vance Travis said there are several safety features in the design, including a feature that has the receptionist buzzing in visitors at the front of the school in a vestibule. There's a very long hallway beyond the two-story entrance so that administrators have a view of the length of the over-sized elementary school.

It is designed so that parent drop off and pickup is on one side of the school and school bus drop off and pickup on the other. A separate drop off and pickup is for the multi-handicapped wing.

The main entrance to the school is off Goodwin Road, which was recently extended to Jenkins Road. The school is just beyond a new roundabout that curves around a transmission tower.

Mr. Travis, whose firm earlier designed Hixson Middle, Hunter Middle, Battle Academy and Red Bank Middle, said the school's geothermal system cost $1 million more than a chiller system, but he said it pays for itself in seven years. He said 300 wells were dug 300 feet below the four playgrounds at the school. The water from the wells is constantly recirculated to heat and cool the spacious building.

Mr. Travis said the county schools were sold on geothermal after former maintenance director Gary Waters tried it at his own home and was pleased with the results.

He said there is a unit for each classroom. If one unit goes down, it only affects that one classroom, and a county staff member can fix it, he said.

The building has color themes inside and out and includes a striking solar lighting display in the lobby.

The fourth and fifth graders are segregated upstairs, while there are wings for other grade groupings. East Brainerd Elementary is adding a pre-K this year.

Last year, the older students were in the old David Brainerd School, while the younger ones stayed at the former school on East Brainerd Road. The David Brainerd School was demolished as soon as school was over to be replaced by a new gym/assembly space at the back of the new school. Nearby is a large new cafeteria. An administrative wing and a library are near the front.

Principal Stewart said the East Brainerd Elementary students will be re-united in the new building and the school will also pick up some former Westview and Bess T. Shepherd students who were rezoned.

The building, which was built by Tri-Con Inc., is designed to hold 1,100 students. It includes over 154,000 square feet of space.

Mr. Travis said the project came in almost $2 million under the $25 million budget. It was built for $126 a square foot, which he called "a real bargain for the county."

He said the school will open without landscaping, but it will be beautified as soon as cooler weather arrives.

 

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