GREAT FALLS – The first day of the new school year in Great Falls is just weeks away, and at the end of August, the new Giant Springs Elementary School will open its door to students.
Construction of the new school – located on the 500 block of 32nd Street North – began a year ago.
After facing difficulties with plenty of harsh winter weather, construction crews and architects are working together around the clock including nights and weekends with the city to make sure the school will be ready for students on August 29th.
The majority of the students that will attend Giant Springs are from the former Roosevelt Elementary School, which closed its doors in June. But after the School District conducted a boundary adjustment process, some other students have been added as well.
Brian Patrick, who is the GFPS Director of Business Operations, said, “It will be especially great for the students not only to begin a new year, but also to be the very first class that begins in this new school building.”
Some traditions will be carried over from Roosevelt to Giant Springs, but with new buildings also comes new traditions and new history. To start off, they are planning to lay a cornerstone and bury a time capsule at Giant Springs.
Brian said that in all likelihood, everything in the new building will be done, but there’s always a possibility something won’t be completely finished. Regardless, students will file in the doors at Giant Springs for their first day of school at the end of August.
As for what happens to the Roosevelt building, it depends on what the construction plans are for Longfellow Elementary School. The GFPS is now in the process for interviews for the architect that will work on the project at Longfellow. The architect will then analyze whether or not they could build around the existing Longfellow school. If they cannot, next school year’s students at Longfellow will use the Roosevelt building.
Reporting by Kasey Herman for MTN News
