Houston – July 26, 2011 – When children enter the new Gloria Marshall Elementary School for the first day of classes, it will be unlike any school they have ever seen. The 105,000 square-foot facility is one of the “greenest” schools in Texas, using resource conservation techniques throughout the building.
Each classroom has natural light available. Solar panels will supplement some of the energy needs, and a wind turbine in the playground will produce power as well. Under the parking lots and playground, a series of water wells will cycle water from deep underground to assist in heating and cooling the school. This geothermal system is a first for Spring ISD and is expected to save 25 percent in energy consumption over other comparably-sized schools.
“Much of the oak, elm, and pine used in the school building were reclaimed from trees that absolutely had to be removed to make room for construction of the building and parking lots. No trees were removed from the site unnecessarily,” said Jeff Windsor, Spring ISD director of construction and energy.
The school is named for Gloria Marshall who joined the district in 1974 as a teacher at Spring Elementary School. She later became principal at Jenkins Elementary School and served over two decades as principal of Spring High School. Marshall is excited about the role the building will play in educating children.
“It is just such an amazing place and when I walk in, I think, ‘What a great place for kids to learn, and for teachers to teach.’ Everywhere you look,
everything you see, is a teaching tool in this building,” she said.
The students will study the amount of energy that the wind turbine and the solar panels are able to produce. They will also have access to outdoor
classrooms, a pond area to study various ecosystems, and a large water cistern that will collect water from the roof of the school. This water will visibly
pass through one of the classrooms on its way to the cistern. The students and staff will then be able to drain various amounts of water from the cistern into the school’s pond to study different environmental conditions.
Kathy Morrison, principal at the new school, says the Spring ISD staff has been hard at work creating a curriculum that takes advantage of the new
school’s features.
“We are going to use project-based learning. The students will learn through projects that are created with the learner in mind, where they are
actually discovering why things work and how they are going to solve a problem. All other curriculum is going to be integrated into these projects,” Morrison said.
Opening this new facility, which has already gained state and national attention, and the engaged learning that will take place within it, are big
steps toward the district’s vision of becoming recognized nationally as a leader among learning organizations.
“I look forward to the day that students and teachers will be in this building. It will come alive then. It’s a beautiful facility now. The heartbeat will begin the day that school begins in this building,” said Marshall.
Over 700 students are expected to arrive at Gloria Marshall Elementary for the building’s very first day of school on Aug. 24. A dedication ceremony is
planned for 9 a.m. Oct. 20.
For more information about the school and to see a photo album of pictures from inside and outside the campus, go online to www.springisd.org/marshall.
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