This is the quietest this cafeteria will be, Alvarez said.
Alvarez said she s excited for the students to see the new building and can t wait to see the first face that walks into the building.
She said she s eager for them to see the playground, which has a wide open field, three different playground sets and a basketball court.
Board Chair Leanetta McNealy said she was tempted to check the bottom of her shoes as she walked into the school to make sure she wasn t tracking dirt inside. This school is so beautiful and new and I didn t want to be the first one to mess it up. Of course in a few days hundreds of little feet will be tracking in dirt and water, and gum, and all sorts of messes, but that s okay because this school is meant to be lived in, McNealy said.
Alachua County schools working on plan to balance student population gainesville.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gainesville.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Among the options the public school board is weighing: Move a couple of hundred students from Idylwild and Wiles Elementary, or shut down Terwilliger Elementary on Northwest 62nd Street and shift those students to the new school on the west side.
The latter idea is expected to save $11.6 million in facilities improvements tapped for Terwilliger, and allow the district to complete a more comprehensive rezoning in the next two to three years.
Opposition to closing Terwilliger
Many Terwilliger teachers and parents opposed the idea of closing the school, though for very different reasons.
Several of the school’s teachers and surrounding community members lamented closing a school that many families rely on a fact that was not lost on the five elected school board members.