Willard R-2 gets massive new school

The Willard School District introduced its newest school building, Willard Intermediate South, to the public during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 6. The event gave students who will be attending the school this year—and their parents—a chance to get to know the building.
Whitney Burrell, director of communications for the district, said Willard Intermediate South was built to accommodate a growing student population.
“We were upwards of close to 800 kids in one intermediate school that was not built for 800 kids, and that prompted this building to be built,” she said.
Burrell said both intermediate schools will have an equal number of students during the 2019-20 school year.
“We will have two fully functioning intermediate schools with fifth and sixth graders, about 315 at each building,” she said.
“So, we will fill this building right up, and the old intermediate school will also be filled with fifth and sixth graders, come Aug. 15.”
The new building was built with an “open concept,” Burrell said, with several open spaces designed to be multifunctional.
“Kids can be doing classroom-type learning, or they can be out in these common spaces doing group work and teacher collaboration,” she said.
Willard Intermediate North is currently being renovated, Burrell said, so the students in that school can have the same kind of open space as at Willard Intermediate South.
“It is going under some great renovations right now to make more of that space workable for our students and for our teachers that will be at that building,” she said.
Burrell also said the reaction to the new building by students and parents was very positive.
“People love having their own building here on the site of our district, and they’re excited to build that community around this building,” she said.
Brian Hayes, a sixth-grade science teacher with 22 years of teaching experience, said he was looking forward to beginning the new year, but the new building layout would require some changes in the way he teaches.
“It’s exciting, (but) it’s also scary,” he said. “Being a veteran teacher, it’s a different mindset for how we do things. The way it’s set up, we don’t have one specific classroom that we’re in, like we used to. We’re supposed to be able to float in and out of any classroom, and use that as our teaching space. Plus, we have the common learning spaces that are also used as a classroom itself.”
Hayes said this year, he will be using teaching methods that incorporate more activity for the students.
“Kids learn differently now, so I have to learn to teach differently now,” he said. “We don’t just sit in desks and teach and read out of books. We have to get them involved, give them projects and get them up and moving.”
Danielle Fragoso, 11, will attend Willard Intermediate South as a sixth-grader this year. She said she liked the classrooms and the libraries because they have more open space than at her last school.
“There is lots of room to sit and concentrate on your work,” she said.
Burrell said the district was looking forward to the start of school on Aug. 15.
“We’re very excited to get our kids in here Aug. 15 and see their reaction to it,” she said. “So far, they have been incredibly excited about it, and they’re ready to come to school.”