Did your child’s school change for the better this summer?

Hundreds of metro-east students will notice a few changes when they step on campus this school year.

After attending a program through the Missouri Botanical Gardens last year, Whiteside Elementary School teachers have been inspired by what an outdoor setting can bring to students. Work is now underway on an outdoor learning area for early childhood and preschool students.

The plan is to integrate being outdoors within their lessons, like math and science. For instance, the teachers would teach counting using seashells, instead of plastic materials.

“A lot of times (with 15 minute recesses) when kids are just getting comfortable with nature, they have to go inside. We hope to have them have this opportunity to explore,” early childhood special education teacher Marie Stamm said.

This exposure to nature has been a work in progress since 2014, when Stamm, early childhood special education teacher Deb Wafer, and preschool teacher Susan Karraker attended the program. They learned that being outside can improve “every aspect of education,” including motor skills, social skills, and behavior.

Since then, the district has raised $6,000 toward the project, along with receiving donations of supplies and materials from local businesses.

The teachers started with a sandbox next to the early childhood center. Even that, they noticed, made the students more confident with playing in the mud, which they may not have been exposed to.

“Some of these kids live in an apartment and don’t have a lawn, and they have very little outdoor playtime,” Stamm said.

By the end of this summer, the Whiteside maintenance staff will have built a patio, brought in logs and rocks, constructed a fence, and assembled a water feature.

They hope to bring students outside on a daily basis, even inviting the older elementary students to use the area as well.

“If kids aren’t in nature, they don’t learn to love nature,” Wafer said. She notes that many students’ first instinct when they see an insect is to kill it, but she wants them to learn that it’s more than okay to let it be.

The elementary school is currently welcoming donations for the area, including hollowed logs or any other natural material.

Collinsville District 10

Collinsville High School is renovating Fletcher Gymnasium for the first time in school history.

The gymnasium has been in place since the school’s opening in 1971, and the changes are expected to be more aligned with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The district is replacing the bleachers and the gym floor. The renovation, however, will actually result in less seating in the gym to account for more handicapped accessible seating and areas. Two hundred less seats will be available, but Superintendent Robert Green said that the gym will be “more comfortable” than before.

“The students are excited,” Green said, “I think everybody is excited.”

All in all, the district has set aside a budget of $560,000 for the project. But, with the progress so far, the gym could be done by Aug. 8 and be below budget, according to Green.

Summer camps have been moved to another school for the duration of the project.

Other projects in the metro-east:

▪  Althoff Catholic High: The Belleville school will launch its capital campaign to raise $2.5 million this fall aimed at constructing new outdoor sports facilities and renovating library space into a STEM lab. The project is planned to be completed for the 2017-18 school year.

▪  Belleville Township High School District 201: Belleville West is going to build new lighting for the tennis courts for completion this fall. Private donations are expected to cover the $30,000 cost.

▪  Brooklyn District 188: The district is planning to resurface the parking lot with asphalt and install new ceiling tiles before the new school year begins. The Lowes Foundation has also given the district a $51,000 grant that will be used to install new flooring in the library. Additionally, the National School Lunch Program gave approximately $42,000 to purchase new kitchen equipment.

▪  Cahokia District 187: At Huffman Elementary, the district is repaving the playground and creating an access road to ease congested traffic during the pick-up and drop-off of students.

▪  Columbia District 4: Columbia is in the planning stages of a new concession stand and restroom facility to be located on the multi-purpose field. The district hopes the project will begin after the fall sports season is completed and has set aside a budget of $300,000 to $350,000 for the facility.

▪  East St. Louis District 189: The district is repairing the roof of the administration building and is in the process of moving the technology and records department from the board of education building to the James E. Williams Center.

▪  Highland District 5: The district is completing several projects that will exceed $3 million in cost, including flooring replacements throughout the district and tuckpointing at Highland Elementary. The high school will also undergo replacement of the HVAC system and roof, as well as repairs to the tennis court and track.

▪  Lebanon District 9: The district will utilize a state grant of $19,000 to redo $50,000 worth of windows in the high school gym to become more energy efficient.

▪  Mascoutah District 19: The district has resurfaced the track at the high school and added new floors and ceilings in two sections of Mascoutah Elementary. The latter project would complete the removal of asbestos in the district besides a small section of floor tile in the kitchen of Mascoutah Middle School. Combined, both projects cost the district approximately $500,000.

▪  Mater Dei Catholic High: The Breese school hopes to have resurfacing of the parking lot, addition of more security cameras, renovation of the corridor hallways, and replacement of sidewalks and streetlights completed by the beginning of the year.

▪  Millstadt District 160: Ongoing projects include adding new parking lots and paving and expanding existing lots. Several school buildings will also have their roofs replaced. The projects are expected to be completed by the beginning of the school year for a total of $600,000, Superintendent Jon Green said.

▪  O’Fallon District 90: As part of an energy savings contract, the district has replaced several, older, and less-efficient HVAC models across its seven schools. Estelle Kampmeyer Elementary School will have its building envelope, or window and wall system, replaced by the beginning of the school year. Two of its classroom pods have lost a significant amount of energy due to poor insulation with the current window and wall system. Including an update to the building automation systems throughout the district, the projects will cost an estimated $5.3 million.

▪  Pontiac District 105: The Fairview Heights district is replacing the HVAC units at both the elementary and junior high schools. The elementary school will also have some sections of its roof repaired. Both projects are to be completed before the school year begins. Combined, the bids for the projects total $570,111.

▪  Queen of Peace: The Belleville school is planning to replace the PA system, reconfigure classroom space for an art room, and dedicate an area to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The work is expected to be completed by the beginning of the school year.

▪  Roxana District 1: Construction has begun on a new gym, which will include a wrestling room, at Roxana Junior High. The district has contracted with FGM Architects in O’Fallon for the project. Students in grades sixth through eighth will no longer need to use the high school gym for physical education or sports. The cost of the project is $4.2 million.

▪  Shiloh District 85: The elementary school has finished resealing its parking lot.

▪  Triad District 2: The district is currently working on replacing the high school track and long jump board. The total bid was $214,848.

▪  Venice District 3: The district is currently in the second phase of HVAC and windows renovation and replacement. The projects cost approximately $600,000.

▪  Waterloo District 5: The district is undergoing HVAC replacement at Rogers Elementary and windows replacement at one of the buildings at Waterloo Junior High. The particular building dates back to 1938 and currently needs the structural repairs. Both improvements total $3.2 million.

▪  Wolf Branch District 113: The all-weather track at the middle school is being resurfaced with the work expected to be completed by the beginning of the school year, along with other small repairs to the parking lot. The project and repairs are expected to cost the district an estimated $250,000.

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Did your child’s school change for the better this summer?."