Alta Vista Charter School was awarded $5.9 million in B.E.S.T. funding last week for the restoration of the existing school house and the construction of additional facilities. (Aaron Burnett)
The charter school, which serves kindergarten through sixth grades, was awarded more than $5.9 million by the Colorado Department of Education through the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program. The grant is part of nearly $1 billion that is expected to be disbursed to school districts throughout the state in coming years to help fund capital improvement projects. When completed, the program will be the largest state investment in school construction in Colorado history.
The BEST program is funded through the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund. This fund harnesses revenue from the
Alta Vista Administrator Talara Coen explains the plans for the school s upcoming facilities expansion. The school received over $5.9 million in funding for the project from the BEST program. (Aaron Burnett)
Talara Coen, administrator for Alta Vista Charter School, said the grant will allow the fledgling school to move out of two modular units and construct a permanent facility while incorporating the schools historic building.
“The Building Excellent Schools Today grant is specifically for over crowding, to get you out of temporary buildings, for ADA accessibility, and for health and safety. I said we are the poster child for this. I'm just so thankful that they felt the same way that this is a definite need,” Coen said.
Currently the school operates out of a small brick schoolhouse constructed in 1917 and two modular units on site. The new construction will add 18,000 square feet of classroom and breakout space as well as a cafeteria/small gymnasium. There is not currently a gymnasium on site. The plan calls for the existing building to be gutted and re-purposed. An L-shaped addition will be constructed on the north side of the historic building. The administration offices, library and cafeteria will be moved to the new addition. The historic building will have classrooms upstairs and downstairs. An elevator will also be constructed at the rear of the historic building to allow better access to both levels. Energy saving features are expected to be incorporated into the project as well.
The administrator said that because of the nature of the construction relating to the historic schoolhouse, preliminary plans have been sent to the state historical society for approval and were accepted.
Coen said the grant will allow the school to better meet the needs of its students and service the full number of students allowed under its charter with the district. “The BEST grant does not allow you to build for bigger and better, it just allows you to meet your needs. Now it will let us go to capacity, which is 140 students, which we've never housed. We've never had that many, but we're hoping the new facility will encourage people to come out.”
The school's charter allows for up to 20 students per grade level. Currently the school has approximately 120 students enrolled for the coming year.
“We are a free public school and anybody can come. We do ask for a letter of intent and then we fill our classes and we only take 20. We do have a waiting list for a few of our classes, but most of our classes we do have openings,” said Coen.
The construction plan is the result of community input said Coen. The administrator said four plans were developed and presented to stakeholders, with the current plan selected as the plan of choice. Some of the options explored included building a whole new facility, building a single hall addition, and building the L-shaped edition. She added that the L-shaped edition chosen was not only the overwhelming choice of the community members, but also the least expensive option.
The BEST program generally requires at least a 13 percent match said Coen, but the Alta Vista project is only being required to contribute approximately 4 percent, or $247,000.
The administrator added that the school hopes the project will provide a stimulus to the local economy. “We're hoping for local bids and hoping for local work when we go to build.”
Planning for the facility is still in the preliminary stages said Coen. Detailed architectural drawings are expected to be commissioned around January when funding through the grant program becomes available. Construction on the new facility is expected to begin later next year with completion before the end of the school term.
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