The initial phase of Whittier Elementary’s ongoing renovation project offers a glimpse of what’s to come for the entire building: New technology. Refreshed spaces. New rooms for educators who support students including the school’s counselor, intervention specialists and those who work with English learners.
Whittier also added a half-day kindergarten classroom, a staff restroom, a conference room and a restroom for students with special needs following renovation work to two classrooms over the summer. And crews have broken ground on the site of an addition that will house the school’s new art and music classrooms.
“It’s going to be a complete renovation,” Principal A.J. Hoffman said. “There is not a space in the building that will be untouched.”
Whittier is among a handful of buildings this school year to feature facility upgrades as part of the district’s first phase of a facilities master plan residents approved in 2019. This summer, Hawthorne Elementary started its renovation project while work continued at Westerville South High School with updates to another academic wing and the media center.
Renovations at Whittier will be ongoing but staff say the work completed so far has made a difference.
School counselor Yani Owens moved from a room in the back of the media center to the main office, giving students more privacy when they need to meet with her and parents a space to easily connect with her.
“It affords me a little more accessibility and privacy for what I need,” she said.
Intervention specialist Kailyn Hoffmannbeck previously shared a room with another intervention specialist. Now she has her own space with a touchscreen display — a device her students are looking forward to use.
“We’re excited the new spaces have new technology that teachers will get to test out,” Hoffman said. “It just brightens it up for kiddos and it’s a super welcoming space for all the social-emotional pieces.”