Raceland Lower Elemantary’s new digs score big

Students who arrived at Raceland Lower Elementary School for the first day of the new school year entered a brand new centralized building, unlike the school’s previous location, which was spread out among three buildings and 16 portable units.

The students should feel “like they’re not in Kansas anymore,” said JoAnn Matthews, superintendent of Lafourche Parish Schools, to a group gathered in the new school’s cafeteria for its grand opening.

The new facility, equipped with the latest in technology and wireless Internet, will house about 480 students from grades pre-K through second, according to the principal, Valerie Bourgeois. “This is a tremendous facility, even though leaving the old building was bittersweet because we left a lot of memories there.”

The new building, she said, puts all the students, faculty and staff under one roof. All the halls are color-coded, so it’s easy to find classrooms for students and parents alike in the circular layout, designed by local architect Skipper Holloway. The new building is located behind Raceland Upper Elementary, which faces La. Highway 308.

“We have a lot of security here,” Bourgeois said. “There’s one main entry and exit, and when it rains, no one has to go from building to building like before,” she said, noting that when it rained it was really messy.

The students, she said, may also have the cleanest hands in the area, once they see the hand dryers and automatic faucets in the restrooms. “I know they’re going to enjoy those,” Bourgeois said.

“We’ve brought our memories into this new state of the art building and we’ve brought our love here,” she said. The media center, she was, is well stocked and every classroom is equipped with a Promethean board, which is an interactive white board.

Matthews said, “We’re looking forward to many productive years here.” The building cost more than $13 million and took about two years to complete.

Raceland Elementary