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Community welcomes a 'bright and cheery' Ocean Avenue School

The two-hour open house draws a steady stream of students, parents, teachers and neighbors.

By Dennis Hoey dhoey@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — When the doors opened Wednesday night, people started pouring into Portland's newest school.

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Emma King, 5, of Portland checks out the book selection in the kindergarten room during an open house Wednesday evening at the city’s new Ocean Avenue Elementary School, which officially opens for students Feb. 28. Emma will start kindergarten at the school next year.

Photos by Tim Greenway/Staff photographer

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Some of the visitors to Wednesday's open house get to play parachute games in the gym of the new Ocean Avenue Elementary School in Portland.

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The steady stream of students, parents, teachers, former teachers and neighbors never let up during the two-hour open house.

By the time tours of the Ocean Avenue Elementary School were winding down, most visitors said they were impressed with the care and attention to detail that went into the design for the two-story, 70,000-square-foot building.

"What I've seen so far is just marvelous. It's so bright and cheery," said Alecia Hamel of Yarmouth, who taught for 36 years at the city's Baxter Elementary School, which stood on the site of the new school. "But I do have mixed feelings. You're sad to see the old school go."

Ocean Avenue Elementary School, near the Back Cove neighborhood and Cheverus High School, was built at a cost of $14.2 million.

The school, for kindergarten through fifth grade, will initially house all 314 students from the 104-year-old Clifford Elementary School and students from other elementary schools who live nearby.

Students and their teachers will begin classes in the new school on Feb. 28, the day after February vacation. The last day of classes at Clifford is today.

Catherine King said her 5-year-old daughter, Emma, will begin kindergarten at the new school in the fall.

Emma and her friend, 5-year-old Sabine O'Malley, pawed through a "Clifford" book, "Don't Wake the Puppies," while their moms checked out the kindergarten classroom.

"We're excited to have a healthy school environment that we can walk to. We're really psyched about having a neighborhood school," said Beth O'Malley.

"It seems like a school for the 21st century. There is so much to be excited about," King said. "Even the chairs are ergonomically correct."

Each classroom has three desktop computers, a bathroom and sink, and a SMART Board. An overhead projector can be used to display lessons onto the SMART Board.

"I loved working at the Nathan Clifford school," said Juanita DeWitt, a kindergarten teacher. "But the kids had to go into the basement if they had to use the bathroom, and now we have computers in the classroom. It's great."

A tour of the school reveals more features.

Each hallway is lined with an occasional grooved tile that reflects the theme of the wing. For instance, the ocean wing has tiles with embedded fish scale patterns.

Jenifer Richard, an interior designer from WBRC Architects, said children enjoy running their hands along walls, which is why each wing has special hand tiles.

Richard said the other wings' themes are agriculture, forest and mountains.

The floors also reflect wing themes. The Ocean Wing floor tiles resemble rippling water. Forest wing floors look like bark with spots of leaves on them.

Students' lockers, made from recycled plastic, are half-sized and set low to the floor, making it easier for small students to reach inside.

Richard Rollins, an engineer with WBRC, said all of the bathrooms are hands-free, so all students need to do is swipe their hands under soap or a paper towel.

The school's heating system can alternate between oil and natural gas, with natural gas being the preferred option. Solar panels near the gymnasium will be used to heat the school's hot water supply.

Millie Loubier, who lives near the school, said she was curious about how her tax dollars were being spent, so she decided to stop by Wednesday night with a couple of friends.

"It's really nice," she said. "Some lucky children are going to be going to school here."

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com