When students walk into Walnut Grove Elementary School for the first time on Tuesday, they will notice a statue of a walnut tree in the lobby with colorful lights illuminating its leaves. Different-colored vines, painted on the floors as if stemming from the roots of the tree sculpture, will lead them to their brand new classrooms.
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Center Grove Community Schools’ sixth elementary school will have a new experience in the classroom as well.
They’ll be able to move freely between the classroom and hallway, as the walls facing the hallways are made of retractable glass panels. Teachers will be able to adjust the lighting in those classrooms, with brighter shades for times of work and focus, and warmer, calmer shades for times of conversation and relaxation, said Brian Proctor, Walnut Grove’s first principal who helped design the school.
The new 116,000-square-foot school was two years in the making and cost $23.1 million to build. It has 45 classrooms, along with a gymnasium, cafeteria, a large group instruction room, and conference rooms and offices for administrators.
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Center Grove schools opened the new school to accommodate its ever-growing student body. The number of students at Center Grove schools grew by more than 1,500 between the 2001-02 and 2018-19 school years, school officials said.
Opening Walnut Grove required Center Grove schools to move 1,218 elementary students and 141 middle school students to new schools this year, school officials said.
The students, most of whom went to Maple Grove Elementary School, will have a unique experience.
As students enter the hallway at Walnut Grove, they’ll first notice the curvy vines as part of the floor design. Green vines lead to kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, red ones lead to second- and third-grade classrooms, and yellow leads to fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms on the second floor.
In the cafeteria, ceiling panels are staggered on three different levels to minimize the echo and noise of hundreds of elementary school children eating and talking at once. The school, which will open its doors to more than 600 students on Tuesday, has room for about 800.
There are also panels that separate the gym from the cafeteria. Those panels can be opened or positioned to create a stage space in either of those areas for school performances or guest speakers.
As students and staff venture through the hallways at Walnut Grove, they will notice cubic lamp shades hanging from the ceiling. Those shades are at the bottom end of what school officials call solar tubes, which open up to the roof and refract sunlight down into the hallways. The tubes are symbolic of the school’s mission to use alternative energy; it has six acres of solar panels that can satisfy about one-third of Walnut Grove’s electricity needs, Proctor said.
The open layout and fluidity of the school is especially represented in the library, innovation labs and restrooms.
The innovation labs, like most of the classrooms at Walnut Grove, have a movable fourth wall that can open to connect the labs to the rest of the school. There are no desktop computers in the lab, but rather yellow cubes full of electrical outlets that can descend from the ceiling onto the tables in the classroom. Students can power their Chromebooks as they program robots or do other activities related to science, technology, engineering and math, commonly known as STEM.
The absence of desktop computers gives students more options in terms of how to use the space, Proctor said.
“Right now it meets the programming at Center Grove,” he said of the labs. “In 10 to 15 years, STEM might be a (state) requirement. We’re not ahead of the curve, but rather we’re adapting and meeting the curve.”
The library is one with the main lobby, with shelves of books arranged next to the walnut tree sculpture. The curved movable bookshelves sandwich cushioned seats. What Proctor calls a "learning riser" occupies the center of the lobby. It’s a cross between a staircase and bleachers, but it is hollow and doesn’t amplify sound. That space can be used for guest speakers or grade-wide presentations and can hold 115 students, Proctor said.
Another aspect of the school that sets it apart from other Center Grove schools is the slide, which connects the first and second floor. The slide has a locked grate in front of it on the second floor, which is unlocked when students have significant achievements, such as a marked improvement on a test score, perfect attendance or being in a class that raised the most money for a particular cause, Proctor said.
Same as the other Center Grove elementary schools, the classrooms have flexible seating, furniture that has a variety of shapes and heights that students can sit on depending on what is most comfortable for them. All Center Grove elementary schools will also have SMART Boards that students can sync Chromebooks to in order to answer questions and draw on using a marker to make digital illustrations.
Another feature Walnut Grove will share with other Center Grove elementary schools is the ability for teachers to use wearable microphones, distributing their voice evenly throughout the classroom, ensuring students who are seated toward the back of a classroom aren’t at a disadvantage. That sound distribution also encourages teachers to walk around the classroom and engage with each group of students, Proctor said.
“No matter what space you’re in you have the ability to mold, adapt and integrate it into the learning experience,” Proctor said.
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What: Walnut Grove Elementary School Open House
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: 4079 S. Morgantown Road, Bargersville
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School: Walnut Grove Elementary School
Construction cost: $23.1 million
Size: 116,000 square feet
Time it took to build: Two years
Capacity: 792 students
Unique features: Movable glass walls on classrooms, achievement slide, solar tubes for refracted sunlight, learning riser staircase, Indiana-themed murals, walnut tree sculpture and library with movable bookcases.
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