{"id":237524,"date":"2024-07-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=237524"},"modified":"2024-07-27T18:29:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T18:29:45","slug":"fort-knox-updates-its-oldest-elementary-school-opens-doors-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=237524","title":{"rendered":"Fort Knox updates its oldest elementary school, opens doors in August"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Van Voorhis Elementary School, the oldest school on Fort Knox in Kentucky, has been under construction for the past two years, to become a state-of-the art, 21st century school. It will have a ribbon cutting ceremony Aug. 13. Photo taken July 18, 2024 (U.S. Army photo by Shannon Collins)
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Army News Service<\/p>\n

FORT KNOX, Kentucky \u2013 The Department of Defense Education Activity will open its remodeled, state-of-the art, 21st century Van Voorhis Elementary School August 13.<\/p>\n

The oldest school on post, 63 years old, will now have an open concept, with instructional spaces grouped together in neighborhoods where each has a learning hub, a central space used for projects, breakout sessions and activities. Learning hubs have learning studios and classrooms paired for collaborative instruction and group learning. There are also smaller spaces for one-to-one work. Neighborhoods also have easy access to outdoor learning and play spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe build a lot of things the Soldier is going to use to improve their lethality or ability to move, shoot, and communicate on the battlefield. This is a way to show the Soldier we\u2019re also taking care of their families,\u201d said Lt. Col. Guillermo Guandique, deputy commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District. \u201cWe\u2019re giving them world-class opportunities for their children. We\u2019re growing future leaders of our country, of our communities, of our Army, with a facility like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

21st century school<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 510 pre-K to 5th grade military children who live on post will experience five neighborhoods with five learning studios, an art room, music room, performance space, science labs, career technical education labs, a gymnasium and two staff collaboration spaces. They have a one to 18 teacher-student ratio.<\/p>\n

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\n The blue neighborhood is one of five learning hubs, a central space used for projects, breakout sessions and activitiesas part of the 21st century renovation to the Van Voorhis Elementary School on Fort Knox, Kentucky, July 18, 2024 (U.S. Army photo by Shannon Collins)
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\u201cStudents will flow and work within an open neighborhood concept that creates a community of learners,\u201d said Van Voorhis Elementary School principal Angelique Johnson. \u201cAll students in a neighborhood work and collaborate with each other throughout the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Rowe, administrative officer for both Van Voorhis and Kingsolver-Pierce Elementary School, renovated in 2014, said the DoDEA data shows students learn better in this 21st century learning environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe test scores go up,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of the student achievement goes up versus a legacy school in a traditional classroom. Here, they\u2019re going to get better equipment, facilities, technology and a more collaborative environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe said critical thinking skills and technology is being taught as a foundation at the primary school level, so they are more successful as they move into higher education.<\/p>\n

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\n Van Voorhis Elementary School will have laptops for pre-K to 5th grade students during their technology lab sessions as part of the 21st century renovation to the facility on Fort Knox, Kentucky, July 18, 2024 (U.S. Army photo by Shannon Collins)
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\u201cWhite-collar and blue-collar workers use technology,\u201d he said. \u201cThese skills are becoming more and more advanced. They need these technological skills. We must start building these skills at the secondary and post-secondary level. We\u2019re trying to get kids to understand how to use technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe said DoDEA is invested in the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed in the time and energy to try and advance our schools to make sure every military student is getting the best education we can provide,\u201d he said. \u201cAs military members move around the world, when they come back, they\u2019re at the same level, if not better, than their same age peers. If they did go off post to a civilian school, they would be fine. Our goal is to be good if not better than the local population, so when they go to a post-secondary school or college, there\u2019s no learning deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe said DoDEA students usually test within the top ten percent of the nation.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guandique said he was happy the project was on time and on budget so the school could open in time for the fall session.<\/p>\n

Stacey Purifoy-Jones, supervisory program manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Louisville District, said DoDEA is committed to upgrading their facilities such as the schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the students to have the best learning opportunities and the facilities that are both safe and helping them excel at their best,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on the quality of life for our students who live on the installation. We want to help the students be their best, to learn and become whoever they want to be in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the career technical education labs, they have a broadcasting room with a green screen background, teleprompter, camera and production equipment. They have a computer lab where each student will work on their own laptops.<\/p>\n

The $58.9 million construction project began on the 104,000 square foot school during the 2021 to 2022 school year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 Louisville District oversaw the project, Guandique said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, silver certified with the newest energy efficiency initiatives such as LED lighting, reduced wastewater, improved heating and ventilation, improved ventilation and motion sensor lighting, which will save the government thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

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\n The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville Division, incorporated educational signs near building structure and design so the students could learn how the new Van Voorhis Elementary School works. The redesigned, state-of-the art school opens Aug. 13. Photo taken July 18, 2024 (U.S. Army photo by Shannon Collins)
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He said this design is incorporated throughout the rooms, space, accessibility and playgrounds with technology and function to best provide a learning environment for the children. They also incorporated placards around the building educating the students about the structural design about the mechanics of how the building works.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can walk past the HVAC system or the fire suppression system or the 150 drilled piers that support the slab and learn about their design and how they help the building work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also meets compliance so any student can enter the building regardless of disability or physical limitation,\u201d said Guandique \u201cWe\u2019re taking what we\u2019ve learned in the last 50 years with what children need and incorporating that into design.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Van Voorhis Elementary School, the oldest school on Fort Knox in Kentucky, has been under construction for the past two years, to become a state-of-the art, 21st century school. It will have a ribbon cutting ceremony Aug. 13. Photo taken July 18, 2024 (U.S. Army photo by Shannon Collins) (Photo Credit: Shannon Collins) VIEW ORIGINAL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237526,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=237524"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237531,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237524\/revisions\/237531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/237526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=237524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=237524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=237524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}