New Ruder school should fill quickly
Columbia Falls School District 6 Board members Jill Rocksund, left and Larry Wilson, examine a new sensory room at the remodeled Ruder Elementary School Monday. At far left is a squeeze chair, which helps calm children with conditions like autism. (Chris Peterson photo)
Ruder Elementary School was designed to hold about 640 students after its remodel. It’s expected it will fill all but two classrooms when school starts next fall.
That was just one of the tidbits of information the school District 6 Board learned during a tour of the newly remodeled school and the new Glacier Gateway School, which is still under construction, on Monday.
In 2019, voters approved a $37 million bond to remodel Ruder, put in new ball fields between the school and the junior high, rebuild the junior high entrance to secure standards and build a completely new Glacier Gateway School.
The Ruder remodel construction cost about $10.7 million and Gateway has a budget of about $22 million. Since then, enrollment has surged, with the elementary schools adding nearly 90 students over last year.
At Ruder, the remodel was all but completed by Christmas break. Gateway is expected to be completed by Christmas break this year. Supply chain issues have already delayed that project.
The Ruder remodel includes a host of new classrooms, most of which have window light. It also has all new LED lighting, a “cafetorium” which doubles as cafeteria and auditorium with a raised stage, a science lab, special education classrooms, a sensory room, where autistic students and others can get away from the drum of regular classes and a secure entrance.
The structure itself is primarily wood, project manager Monte Moultray of Swank Construction told the board. It was locally sourced.
Swank has the contract for both schools. One of the big challenges of the project, and one that no one will ever see, was the addition of new trusses in the old building. They were needed to support the roof under snow loads and are now on two foot centers, whereas they were on four-foot centers before.
The new classrooms are spacious at 800-square feet and the walls in the halls have specialized material so teachers and students can hang artwork on them without ever seeing the holes.
At Gateway, the board got a look at kindergarten classrooms under construction. The classrooms are specifically designed with shared bathrooms so the youngsters don’t have to travel so far and teachers can keep an eye on them.
They also have long, tall windows to let in more natural light.
Unlike Ruder, Gateway is primarily a steel structure.
It will have a large cafetorium, a library overlooking the Bad Rock Canyon and two gyms, one with bleachers and a second one for practices.
Both gyms have full-sized basketball courts. Like Ruder, it too will have a sensory room and other amenities for children with special needs.
The sensory room at Ruder has proven popular with some teachers who like to take their regular classrooms in there for reading time. It really has a calming and quiet atmosphere.
Once Gateway is completed, the north wing of the old building will be torn down to make way for parking.
Moultray noted that almost all the work at Gateway is being done by locals who live in the community.
The school sold the south half of the building to developer Mick Ruis, who has plans to convert it to senior housing. He can’t start on that project, however, until the students are in the new school. That’s expected to happen over Christmas break.
The buy-sell agreement requires that Ruis build senior housing in the old school, not some other amenity.