Galena Primary School deals with open concept design

Open concept houses might be the current trend, but open concept schools? In the 1970s there was an idea that if a school had an “open” concept design students could interact together in one large classroom, with minimal faculty. This idea was used in building the primary school. The idea was that the primary school would work as one large community of students. But problems have arisen from this design.The open concept cannot be seen today, due to walls being put up to have separation between classes, but the partitions are now creating problems of their own.

Though the high school students are not affected by the primary school’s open concept, some high school students have siblings in the primary school, and the future high school students are being affected by the design of the school today.

The community has heard, there are problems at the primary school building but how drastic are they? Mrs. Jill Muehleip, the principal at the Galena Primary School said, “The primary school was built in 1973.  It was an ‘open’ concept and design. Most of the classrooms are positioned around the outside of the building, with the library, gym and teacher’s lounge in the middle.  The biggest issue with this design is that there were no doors and no walls separating classrooms.  Some walls have been put up throughout the years, but the design still is an issue for teaching and learning at GPS. It also is not the ideal design when considering safety and security issues.”

The security flaw with the design of the school is that since the classrooms are all to the outside and many classrooms don’t have doors that can be locked down and are exposed to the outside, it could be dangerous for kids and staff alike, as rooms can be accessed from the outside.

Another issue is the drop-off and pick-up area. “It is just very congested with traffic before or after school, as there are many parents who pick up and drop off their children at GPS!” Mrs. Muehleip said with concern for the students’ safety after school.

The students also can get distracted due to the fake walls. Noises from the adjacent classrooms leak through the thin walls and distract the classes and teachers from their lesson. This makes it hard for the easily distracted students to learn.

Another issue is if a student has to use the bathroom or a class has to leave, he would have to walk through other classrooms just to make it to his destination. This disrupts classes and shortens crucial learning time, according to Mrs. Muehleip. There have been many discussions and meetings regarding the primary school’s issues. There have been no decisions made yet, but is continues to be discussed.