ROGERS — Dozens of parents, students and teachers joined members of the Rogers School Board on Sunday in dedicating the district’s 15th elementary school.
Janie Darr Elementary, 6505 S. Mount Hebron Road, will officially open Aug. 19. The school is named after Rogers Public Schools’ superintendent for the past 15 years.
“To me, there is no greater honor than to be associated with a school and a school district,” Janie Darr said at Sunday’s dedication ceremony. “It’s something I will forever cherish.”
The ceremony was held in the school’s “cafetorium,” a common space on the building’s ground floor where students will eat lunch and where presentations or performances can be scheduled.
Fast Facts
Janie Darr Elementary
• Janie Darr Elementary School is the first two-story elementary school in the Rogers School District.
• The school is nearly 90,000 square feet and is designed for 750 students.
• Lights automatically switch off as one of the energy-efficient features of the school.
• The project is slated to come in under its budgeted overall cost of $16 million.
Source: Staff Report
Other features of the nearly 90,000-square-foot building include a “P.E. for life” room next to the school’s gymnasium where students can ride stationary bicycles or play Wii Fit, an exercise-themed video game.
“It’s spotless,” said Beth Welbourn, whose children, Maddie and Matthew, will attend the school this year. “We are thrilled and feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to go to a brand new school.”
The school’s principal, Sharla Osbourn, said she’s most excited about the school district’s commitment to sustainable building practices during the $13.8 million construction project.
Numerous windows allow a flood of natural light into the building. Classrooms are equipped with a daylight sensor that adjusts lighting based on weather conditions outside, David Cauldwell, business manager for the school district, explained. A multi-purpose “toolbox” classroom on the school’s second floor offers sweeping views of a hay field below. The toolbox will allow two classes at a time to have group activities, such as science experiments, special speakers or programs, Cauldwell said. A section of the building’s roof was built to support a rooftop garden.
Osbourn said close to 300 students have enrolled for the upcoming school year so far. The building was designed for 750 kids. The school will serve students who previously would have attended Elza R. Tucker Elementary School and Bellview Elementary. Darr graduates will feed into Elmwood Middle School and Rogers High School.
Raymond Burns, CEO of the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce, emphasized Sunday that the school was built without increasing property tax rates. He said it will help drive development on the west side of town.
About $10.7 million in bonds, interest-free to the district through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, financed the bulk of the building project, Kathy Hanlon, district treasurer, said prior to Sunday’s event. State partnership money and rebate money from refinancing other district bonds also helped pay for the school, Hanlon said.