GORHAM – The atmosphere in Gorham’s new Great Falls Elementary School rippled with excitement this week as preparations continued for the opening of the brand new, $21 million elementary school on Monday, Aug. 29.
On Tuesday, schoolteachers, aided by spouses and volunteers, unpacked cardboard boxes of classroom supplies while the staff answered the school’s one working telephone, ringing incessantly in the front office.
Construction of the school, off Sebago Lake Road, began in 2009, but had experienced some unforeseen building delays. Now, readying the building in time for opening day appears to be going right down to the wire.
“It takes all hands on deck,” Principal Jane Esty said Tuesday .
But, Esty is confident.
“Everybody is hustling,” Esty said. “I’m not worried. I have an awesome staff.”
Her staff was making do Tuesday. In the main office, administrative secretary Rhonda Perkins answered a phone call and wrote a message with a marker on a manila file folder.
“It’s whatever we can find right now,” Perkins said.
Teachers began moving in Monday and Superintendent Ted Sharp visited every classroom. “Boxes were everywhere,” Sharp said.
“Everyone is pitching in to get everything ready,” Sharp said. “We’re opening Monday.”
Esty herself has fielded myriad tasks – responding to calls from parents and handling boxes of supplies. She worked until 9:30 p.m. on Monday, the last to leave the building.
But, Esty had yet to fully move into her office and the building’s main office was stacked with cardboard boxes Tuesday. Esty said when she landed in her office Aug. 18, there was no Internet service, no copier and no phones.
This week Esty was making calls on a fax machine. Parents were buzzing with questions that included bus routes, classroom assignments and teachers.
“I’ve had phone call after phone call,” Esty said.
In Gorham, kindergarten and grades 6 and 9 start Monday and all other grades on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
The new building, along with Narragansett and Village schools, allows Gorham to reconfigure its elementary school system to three buildings, each housing kindergarten through Grade 5.
The antiquated White Rock Elementary School, which had kindergarten through Grade 2, has been closed.
Gorham also has spruced up its Narragansett and Village schools, which have been re-painted throughout. Sharp praised the district’s maintenance and custodial staff.
“They’ve really stepped it up,” Sharp said.
Sharp said the reconfiguration impacts two-thirds of the district’s students and faculty.
Esty was previously an assistant principal at Village School and had taught at Narragansett, Little Falls and Village schools. She’s the mother of two daughters, Gorham graduates and ballerinas who recently performed in Paris, France, with the Miami City Ballet.
Sharp picked Esty for principal at the new school. “It’s a career-long dream for me,” Esty said.
Sharp said Esty brings experience and expertise to the job.
“She’s a talented lady, she earned the right to be principal of the new school,” he said.
Rebecca Fortier, the former Gorham math coordinator, is the assistant principal.
Parents, teachers and students alike are thrilled with the new school. Ean Larson, a Grade 5 student, found the playground fun Tuesday. He described the school as “pretty big and awesome.”
Leslie Norris is a substitute teacher and a parent of a third-grader, who also has found the school’s new playground a fun place.
“He’s very, very excited,” Norris said.
Norris said the school is bright and cheerful.
“It’s wonderful. It’s much bigger than I anticipated,” said Norris, a volunteer who was helping teachers settle.
“I love the natural wood and stonework,” Norris said. “It’s beautiful.”
The school is designed for 550 students. Great Falls School secretary Doreen Benson will take school attendance, but Tuesday didn’t have a definite enrollment number.
“It’s changing right now,” Benson said.
Sharp said PDT Architects captured natural light for the school and noted the school’s pastoral setting on 26 acres of former farmland. There’s even a fenced pond.
“The teachers are sky high,” Sharp said.
The construction project, which had gotten off to an early start, met some unforeseen delays caused by some sub contractors with a manpower shortage and more recently a flooring installation issue. Workmen continued work this week in the countdown to opening day.
Tuesday, electricians were snipping wires. Other workers were still installing floor tiles in the entrance, which had a tape barrier.
“We’re going to make it – school’s on,” said construction superintendent Richard Collins of Davis & Hanscom.
Despite delays, a sign of good fortune sprouted as a groundskeeper discovered a patch of four-leaf clover and picked one for Esty.
“There are great things ahead for Great Falls,” Esty said.
Great Falls Elementary School Principal Jane Esty, left, and
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