By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

As the beginning of the school year creeps closer and closer, bond design teams also get closer to completing their site plans for various schools throughout the district.

Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Heidi Mercer gave her regularly scheduled bond update to the board during the Aug. 14 board meeting.

Several design teams met earlier that day.

Early Childhood Center

The design team for the Early Childhood Center discussed playground locations. The group expressed interest in creating two playgrounds — one for older children and one for younger children, said Mercer.

The group also discussed the parking lot setup for student drop-off and pick up.

“The design of the building is coming along,” said Mercer. “We’re really getting to the point of really looking at classrooms now.”

Webber Elementary School

“We continue to work with the challenges of water retention as part of the new wing,” said Mercer.

The design team has spent time looking at lockers and extended learning areas.

“The committee, again, the same as Early Childhood, is really looking down to the classroom (level) now,” Mercer said.

STEM

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) group looked at spaces at Carpenter Elementary, Orion Oaks Elementary and Webber Elementary.

Much like the other committees, the STEM committee is also going through casework such as storage, sinks, countertops and other details.

Additionally, the group discussed the kind of activities that would take place in the space to give them an idea of the types of materials that would need to be available in the STEM rooms.

Furniture

Four classrooms in the district will be piloting new furniture for several months this upcoming school year.

These classrooms will also be piloting the technology package that was previously approved by the board.

The furniture selections were approved by the board during the meeting.

Teachers throughout the district will visit these classrooms later in the year to talk with the teacher and the students and get an idea of the package as a whole, said Mercer.

Media Center

This committee also looked at furniture, as well as the overall setup of the room.

Each media center will also have a space for a media productions lab, Mercer said.

“We’re really looking to ignite further our media productions program at the elementary level. You know that we’re already revising some things at the middle school to, again, support our awesome program at the high school,” said Mercer.

According to Mercer, all schools in the district will be receiving updates to their media center regardless of the building’s place in the bond timetable.

For more information on bond progress visit www.lakeorionschools.org.