Little known facts about the new school complex

The public is in for some surprises when they tour the new school complex in Coulee Dam this Friday:

- Polished concrete floors sparkle and give off a sense of expensive treatment. Workers have ground square borders in areas to resemble tiles.

- Rooms in the elementary wing have colored canopies over the doors, which match colors inside the room, so younger students can find their classrooms.

- Outside each classroom, a small panel gives the teacher’s name and where they went to college.

- Every classroom has a great view of the out-of-doors, when you’re standing. Windows are at a strategic level to discourage too much window gazing, while allowing natural light in.

- Classroom lighting will respond to the amount of light reflecting from desktops. Sunnier days will take less electricity automatically.

- Light switches are actually remote panels to manage each room from a central environmental control.

- Classrooms are equipped with an infrared public address system, so teachers can be heard easily, even when students are engaged in a noisy activity -- or are just excited.

- The view from the tops of the stairwells affords a spectacular view of the hills.

- On the outside of the building, the stone work is colored to match the color of the granite cliffs on the hills surrounding the area.

- Storage units (“cubby holes” without doors) will be available for students in the lower grades. Older students get traditional lockers.

- Secondary students will enjoy the large home economics and science lab rooms in the junior-senior high school wing.

- Outdoor play areas feature rubber-based surfaces, actual green grass to play on, concrete, or artificial turf for the special activities each area offers.

- Some tables in the secondary-wing cafeteria will feature the Lake Roosevelt logo where students receiving special honors can sit.

- Technology galore -- more than 31 miles of networking cables for technology runs through the walls of the new school. Each classroom will have several computers in it, besides those planned for the computer lab.

- Classroom furniture, all new, is designed so pieces can be placed together for group studies.

- The two libraries were stocked with books and other library supplies late this week. Some $20,000 worth of books and other materials were received from the North Central Regional Library District; that organization also helped with the move of books from the three former libraries.

- The Otis Elevator Company has tested and approved the lone elevator in the building. It will take people and supplies from the lower level of the school to the upper level.

- The secondary wing will have a student store, where students can purchase different types of materials.