abouTschools

BONHAM ELEMENTARY
IS ONE SEMESTER OLD
By NICOLE PRIOLO

“It’s kind of nice to have a building where they live here, they belong here, and they can come here,”
- Ken Newbold, Principal

With the opening of Bonham Elementary this fall, students and teachers have had the privilege of enjoying a new state-of-the-art facility that houses 37 classrooms, 658 students, and the newest technology.

According to Principal Ken Newbold, the new school has been a long time coming. Built in 1961, “old Bonham” was not only overcrowded but also in desperate need of renovations, some of which could not be done in the old building.

“The ceilings were so low that they couldn’t have done any of the updated HVAC systems that were more cost effective because every bit of space that was in our ceiling space was already used up,” Newbold said. He went on to say that with the opening of the new school, one of the first things the staff, kids and parents noticed was the ceiling heights.

“Over there, pretty much even my third-graders could run through the hall, jump up, and they could touch the ceiling,” he said. “So they thought that was something spectacular – they can’t do that here.”

The old campus, which sits adjacent to “new Bonham,” was only 64,845 square feet, so the school had to bring in temporary buildings to accommodate for their student enrollment. Even with the added buildings, the school was still crowded, and bilingual students had to attend elsewhere in the school district.

The new school encompasses 82,500 square feet and now houses four bilingual classrooms of its own. “It’s kind of nice to have a building where they live here, they belong here, and they can come here,” Newbold said.

Mike Cargill, superintendent of Bryan Independent School District, said, “We’ve always had a neighborhood school concept, and so we don’t want to bus kids too far away from where they live in the elementary level.”

Cargill went on to say that the new school has become a focal point for the community and has given them a source of pride.

“There’s a real community out there. It’s been there for years. You’ve got the grandchildren of people who attended that school going there now,” he said. “It’s a real important part of our community, so we wanted to make sure that we really did it right for those kids and those families. It’s been a real success.”

The new building has also provided opportunities in technology for both students and teachers. Newbold believes that, with the new building, they will be able to keep up with changes in the ever-evolving world of technology.

“For us, the mounted projectors were one of the newest ways to be able to do some things instructionally. And it is great – it just opens up a whole new world to what they can do with the kids, and how they can bring stuff so immediately into the classroom.”

Newbold said that teachers have also been stretching themselves to do things differently with the added technology in their classrooms. With the projection systems, they can plug in their computers and instantly bring up Web sites for students to view.

With this capability, Newbold said he now looks for more web-based educational products because it’s so much easier than trying to load software on individual computers.

Newbold, who has been at Bonham Elementary since 1995, said the project has been a wonderful collaborative process.

“The architects and the construction firm and then our district people that were involved in all of that – they have been wonderful to work with. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”

He expressed that he and his staff are very appreciative of the board and the administration at the central office. “They were willing to step out there and to go after and support a project such as this, when as we all know, budgets are tight and realizing and recognizing the need – for our Bryan kids, we want to do and provide the best that we can provide for them.”