BOURBONNAIS — The expansion underway at St. George Elementary School is expected to be ready for use next school year and remedy long-term issues with the building’s lack of space.

The expansion is adding 14,650 square feet onto the school, including eight new classrooms, new offices and a flexible learning space.

“We’ve used every space available within the school, including dividing some rooms with partitions so that we could fit everyone in the space,” Superintendent Helen Boehrnsen said.

Boehrnsen said about 100 students usually attend class in the school’s four mobile classrooms, which have been used since 2012.

Having everyone learning under the same roof will help with cohesiveness and ensuring that all students feel like they are a part of the school, she said. The mobile classrooms are also unsafe to use during inclement weather.

“There are lots of challenges when you have students and teachers not in the main part of the building,” Boehrnsen said.

The original school was built in 1925.

The school underwent expansions in 1957, 1971, 1995, and most recently in 2004 when enrollment was 273 and on the rise. Enrollment peaked at 498 in 2012, according to state report card data.

Currently, enrollment totals about 420 students.

“At that time [in 2004], the community was growing so quickly that, by the time the addition was finished, the space already wasn’t enough.” she said. “So, there’s been a lot of repurposing of spaces within the school, which makes it a little bit more difficult to deliver curriculum and instruction today in the way in which it’s intended.”

The pre-K through eighth-grade school at 5200 E. Center St. is the only school within St. George Community Consolidated School District 258. The district started its pre-K program just this year.

In April 2019, taxpayers approved a referendum to fund $6.93 million of the school expansion project. The total cost for the expansion and renovations is approximately $8.9 million.

The project is being completed by Johnson-Downs Construction of Kankakee and Tria Architecture of Burr Ridge. Boehrnsen noted that 75 percent of the project uses local contractors.

Construction began in March 2020, and the first phase of construction was finished in August 2020.

This included reconfiguring the main entry into the school by adding more doors for safety, moving the playground to the back of the school for safety, and extensive renovations to the band room.

An elevated stage was removed from the band room to make the room level, and a wall and instrument storage space were added.

About 90 students take part in band. Due to COVID-19, band is virtual this year, and the room is currently being used as a fourth-grade classroom to help with social distancing. It’s one of the larger rooms in the school.

“We’re grateful to have that space for those purposes this year, but we’re looking forward to using that space for its intended purpose, which is band and music,” Boehrnsen said.

Other upgrades will include replacing all of the heating and air conditioning systems and lighting in the school.

Boehrnsen said she is particularly excited for the flexible learning space, which will lead to an outdoor classroom area and connect old and new corridors.

The space will feature rubberized flooring, flexible seating, canopies for shade and tiered seating. Several classes could utilize the space at once.

The second phase of construction is slated for completion by spring and the final phase is slated for completion by fall.

Boehrnsen said she hopes that the school will be back to a full-time schedule by fall. Students are currently on half days because of the pandemic.

“We’re very grateful to the community for providing the funds through the referendum to be able to expand the school and to provide appropriate learning spaces for all of our students,” she said. “We’re hopeful that when school resumes in August of 2021, for that school year, we are fully occupying our school for full days, and we are back to as normal as you can be. We will celebrate that.”

“There are lots of challenges when you have students and teachers not in the main part of the building."

 Superintendent Helen Boehrnsen