Valparaiso Community Schools Break Ground for Heavilin Elementary

Valparaiso Community Schools Break Ground for Heavilin Elementary

In celebration of the promising future for Valparaiso Community Schools, the sun shone down on an excited school board and community members alike. With the groundbreaking for Heavilin Elementary, the positive impacts the referendum will have for Valparaiso have begun to show.

The new elementary school will serve over 500 students south of Route 30 that would have previously attended Central Elementary, Hayes Leonard Elementary, and Parkview Elementary.

“This new elementary school will have a profound impact on the growth of our city south of Route 30,” Mayor Jon Costas said. “It will increase safety. It will be a fabulous facility for our young people to learn in and it will help our city to grow its educational opportunities.”

With the world progressing every day, the Valparaiso School Board realized that they must ensure their students keep up.

School Board President Karl Cender said, “This will be a more modern school. Hopefully it will better educate our kids for the 21st Century and I think that the design is reflective of that. We are very excited to see the new school that will serve the southern part of Valparaiso for years to come.”

The referendum, which received 2:1 support from the community, not only includes the building of a new elementary school, but also remodeling of all the other elementary schools in Valparaiso, excluding Hayes Leonard, which will be shutting down. The high school will also be remodeled.

“When all of the projects are done in the district, the plan is for constructional and student environment equity. All the schools will be very similar in terms of the classrooms. That’s the other exciting thing about the referendum,” said Jim Thompson, Gibraltar Design Architect.

“Given the tremendous support we have had from the community, I think this referendum will have a tremendous impact on the community,” said Superintendent Dr. E. Ric Frataccia. “We have the idea of the community in our minds in terms of design and delivery of the project to make them as proud of us as we are of them. We couldn’t have done this without the community’s support.”

With the start of construction for a new school, other aspects of the area had to be reassessed. Safety came into question regarding the intersection of IN 2 and Heavilin Road. A month ago, a meeting was held with city commissioners, state police, the mayor, and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).

“At the time, we didn’t have the numbers to get a light,” said Sheriff David Reynolds. “We made a few more enquiries with INDOT and contacted Representative Ed Soliday and Senator Ed Charbonneau to have them reassess our situation.”

After two weeks, a decision was made to install a light at the intersection.

Reynolds said, “It’s all about safety. We know what is going to happen in this area. It’s going to develop. We are going to have buses, so we will need turning lanes.”

Not only has the development been exciting for community members, but it has also been admired by the rest of the state.

Frataccia said “We’re still getting calls from around the state about how we’ve accomplished the support from the community and it’s easiest to just answer ‘We are Valpo.’”