Rock Ridge ready to open the doors of the new North Star Elementary in Virginia
A Ninja room and sliding hill are just two of the wow-factor features at the new North Star Elementary in Virginia.
It’s the final new construction of the Rock Ridge consolidation projects.
Students, teachers, and community provided input into the design. Many of the spaces will be utilized by the public as well.
“When we built it, we listened to the community. We listened to the kids. We listened to the teachers. And they said we wanted light and windows, play areas for kids to move around in, classrooms that kids could work together on projects. So we did those things,” Dr. Noel Schmidt told us. He’s the superintendent of Rock Ridge.
The first floor has the specialists areas, like the music room, art room, and even a construction lab. Plus, there’s a broadcast studio! WDIO can’t wait to come back and check that out.
“Project based learning is not a catch phrase here, it is what we do,” said principal Scott Manni.
Upstairs are the classroom spaces, where they have state of the art technology, and innovation like dry-erase surfaces on the desks in the math room.
The building is connected to what’s called the New Gym, which has undergone a rebrand and revamp.
And down in the former multi-purpose room, a Ninja room!
“I was shocked the first time I saw this. It turned out absolutely amazing,” Manni added. “No school in the country has what we have,” he added.
Other students and the public will be invited to use the space as well.
Come check it out at an open house celebration starting at 4:30pm on Thursday.