While Prospect Valley’s website shows an old black-and-white photograph of the original school building back in 1898 at 32nd and Pierson, the PV most of us know is the one built in 1967. It has a rounded network of hallways and open concept classrooms with no doors, and walls low enough for laughter and excitement to travel from room to room. The colors and style changed from year to year, but the carpet stayed the same, clean and perfect through 35 years: an experiment by Dupont that earned them the 2002 Antron Performance Flooring Sustainability Award.
The groundbreaking for the new $22 million building was Sept. 24. Voted in with the last bond initiative, it will host close to 500 students and be located behind the current building. Once completed, students will just move over without the need to be displaced to another location.
While the technical details, dates and sizes can be found online, nothing describes the bittersweet feelings felt during the ceremony, prompted by the many faces and memories of parents, teachers and students. As a past PTA President at PV, I have no qualms testifying that PV was the best school in the world. I have no data to prove this, but plenty of testimonials to back my claim.
Certainly a nod to District Superintendent Brenda Carleson. As far back as when she was principal at Prospect Valley, she had been pushing for a new building, bond after rejected bond. Finally, in her last year before retiring, the new building is happening. Congratulations to the county, staff and generations ahead.
