Ruder Elementary expansion nears completion

The new addition to Ruder Elementary School is getting closer to completion.

Swank Enterprises and its subcontractors expect to have the addition done by July, though students will actually move into the 10 new classrooms just before the school year ends.

The addition features a new secure entrance to the school, with bullet-proof glass and doors.

The school secretary and school principal will both have views out onto the parking lot for added security. Visitors will then be buzzed in in order to enter the building.

Inside the spacious classrooms are 880 square feet and include cupboards, a sink and a water fountain, noted project manager Monte Moultray, who is overseeing both Ruder and the new school at Glacier Gateway.

The addition also includes a new “warming” kitchen and spacious “cafetorium” on par with what’s at the junior high, though it has a raised stage and a curtain, so when kids put on a show, the curtain will open before the audience.

The space will also double as a cafeteria. Currently the school uses the gym as its cafeteria during lunch hours.

Crews have also started rebuilding the entire heating and cooling system in the old building.

The district recently OK’s the work and crews started on it immediately, Moultray said. They work weekends and after school to get the work done.

The school will have a new high efficiency heating and cooling system.

This summer, the west wing of the old building will be all but gutted. Crews will put in more roof trusses — the old ones weren’t up to modern snow load standards, Moultray noted.

The wing’s classrooms and other amenities will also see a remodel.

The playground will also see improvements this summer.

All of this is scheduled to be done by the beginning of the school year.

When the remodel is complete, the new school will have 77,000 square feet and a capacity of just under 650 students.