Noelle Chmelecki spent weeks organizing her Portland classroom for the start of the school year, just as she has for the past 18 years. But this year was a little different.

Nearly six years after Portland voters approved a $64 million bond to renovate four aging elementary schools, Chmelecki and the rest of the teachers and staff at Presumpscot Elementary School are starting a new school year Wednesday in a completely renovated building.

The renovated space is modern, filled with bright light from large skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows, and perfectly clean.

There are nooks for kids to read, classrooms with projectors and built in cubbies and spaces for those who get pulled out of class for extra support to sit with teachers.

“It’s just a space that is created with children in mind,” said Angela Taylor, Presumpscot’s principal.

Presumpscot is one of four elementary schools in the Portland school district that has been renovated in recent years or is being renovated.

Plans to renovate Longfellow, Lyseth, Presumpscot and Reiche elementary schools were set into motion in 2017 when Portland voters decided to borrow $64 million to renovate the schools. Construction got underway over the next few years. Lyseth renovations were completed in 2021 and Presumpscot renovations in July 2023. Longfellow is scheduled for October completion and Reiche is set to be remodeled by December.

The district has a total of 10 elementary schools – eight on the mainland and two on islands in Casco Bay.

Prior to the renovations the four schools hadn’t received significant updates for 40 to 65 years. At the time, some had structural problems, outdated heating systems and rooms that did not comply with safety codes. Students were attending classes in modular buildings because of crowding, and receiving out-of-classroom instruction in hallways and converted closets. Before the renovations, Presumpsot didn’t have a principal’s office. Taylor used a closet as a makeshift office. Because there was no actual window there was a painted one. It didn’t have the same effect, Taylor said.

Now the building is filled with large windows and dedicated office space for administrators.

Chmelecki’s almost two decades of teaching include 13 years at Presumpscot. But going into this year she feels the type of jittery excitement usually reserved for those stepping into a new career or job, she said.

“I’m excited to be back at work,” she said. “I am starting the year off with a new energy.”

This is the first year Chmelecki has had a classroom with storage, flooring more spill resistant than the wall-to-wall carpeting that previously covered the floor and a bathroom in her classroom for her kindergarteners to use.

Although all those things might seem small, they make a big difference, Chmelecki said.

“It just feels easier to be in this new classroom,” she said. “It helps me feel more relaxed and students will see that.”

PROJECT BELOW BUDGET

The $64 million bond passed with 65% of the vote in 2017 and the entire project is slated to come in slightly below budget. Longfellow is to cost $15 million, Lyseth $14.3 million, Presumpscot $17.3 million and Reiche $16.2 million.

The below-budget final cost didn’t come without sacrifice. The district scaled back its initial renovation plans after finding out the cost to complete them could end up being around $41 million above the original budget. Construction costs increased significantly during the pandemic.

The projects were delayed between four and six months due to permitting challenges, but the district was able to make up some of that time and has otherwise moved forward on schedule, said Emily Figdor, a board member who serves on the district’s Advisory Building Committee.

Physical space impacts students’ abilities to learn, some experts say. Certain physical designs helps students grow community and challenge themselves appropriately, researchers from Iowa State University and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design said in their article “The Room Itself Is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement,” in the Journal of Learning Spaces.

Emily Herlihy is both a literacy coach at Presumpscot and a district parent. She was one of many who worked to get the $64 million bond passed. From the beginning, Herlihy was dedicated to make sure all of the district’s elementary students had quality spaces to learn.

“Every kid deserves to learn in these beautiful spaces,” she said, standing in a bright new Presumpscot hallway. “These spaces show these kids and their families that they’re valued and they deserve to be in this place.”

Figdor, who also worked on the campaign since its inception, said the new schools will be a “game changer,” for students, employees and community members.

“Gone are the old, rundown buildings,” she said. “Now we have 21st-century schools that support learning, nurture our students, and are hubs for the community.”

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