GREENSBORO, N.C. — A brand new school year means walking through the doors of a brand new school for some students in Guilford County.
On Monday, the first day of school in the district, Claxton Elementary School officially opens. Seven-hundred students will go there.
The pre-k through 5th-grade elementary school has new features like adaptive curriculum classrooms, high-tech security, and an overall open feel of the building.
Promethean panels, or interactive boards, are in every classroom.
"Teachers can then go to any of those environments, they can log onto the same, pull up all of her information, and teach from anywhere within the building," Principal Kevin Thoma said, showcasing one of the boards.
Claxton Elementary is the first of six GCS schools to reopen after a complete rebuild, thanks to a $2 billion bond that Triad voters approved.
Special education teacher Holly Sheldon is going into her third year at Claxton. But it's the first year she'll be inside the school she's been employed with. For the past two years, students and staff were relocated while the new Claxton was under construction.
"It's just mindblowing to walk into a school that's exciting, and this bright, and learning is just going to be more fun this year," Sheldon said.
As far as security is concerned, the school has a vestibule located at the only access point into the building at the main office.
You need key fobs to get into all the doors as well.
Another security feature includes call buttons in every classroom that immediately go to the main office where the principal or administrative staff can respond via intercom to help with whatever emergency there may be.
Thoma said all these new features make him feel good about where education is going.
"Our kids are changing. We need to change. We need to adapt into environments like this, so I’m super excited about what this is going to provide my teachers - to do the work we’ve been doing for a while now - this is going to give them the ability to easily do that for our students too. They are just going to love coming to school. They are going to have every opportunity to learn, to discuss, to be able to be creative," Thoma said.
Open house for pre-k and kindergarten students is Wednesday. Grades 1-5 have open house on Thursday.
The first day of school is Monday, August 26.