Rockford — Rockford’s new Edgerton Trails Elementary is full of calming colors, outdoorsy themes, windows and natural light, but cooperation and communal learning are at the forefront of what the building offers.
The new school, for students in developmental kindergarten through fifth grade, is set to open Aug. 26, on the first day of the 2024-25 school year. It will serve as the main hub for the western portion of the district, absorbing around 400 students from Belmont and Valley View elementaries per a redistricting plan finalized earlier this year.
Ahead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 85,418-square-foot building, set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 9605 Edgerton Ave. NE, Superintendent Steve Matthews gave SNN a brief tour of the school.
Walking The Halls
Edgerton Trails has two equal halves: a lower-elementary wing for DK through first grade, and an upper-elementary wing for second through fifth grade. Each wing is full of open, shared spaces that encourage learning beyond the classroom walls.
Upon entering the building through a secure vestibule and office, students will see the learning commons and media center just across the hall.
“It’s going to be more of a collaboration center than a traditional media center,” Matthews said. “It’s going to have our books, but it’s also going to have the ability for students to work together on projects.”
Like the rest of the building, the learning commons area is filled with new, easily movable furniture purchased with flexible spending money from the district’s 2019 bond. Matthews said it will “transform how kids learn,” making it easier to collaborate and work in small groups.
‘We’re looking forward to welcoming our almost 400 students here to Edgerton Trails. … This is a great space for people on the west side of the district.’
Rockford Superintendent Steve Matthews
“This is really intended for us to have a collaboration space for kids,” he said. “(It’s) more than just a library.”
Collaboration is a common thread throughout the building, which has open learning areas in the hallway sections between classrooms. These spaces, just on the other side of the interior classroom windows, will allow teachers to send students out into the hallway to work together while still keeping children in their line of sight, Matthews said.
Outside the learning commons is a patio that will eventually extend out into an outdoor learning area, Matthews said. The goal is to plot out some trails in the district-owned acreage leading into the nearby woods, but that’s yet to come.
On either side of the learning commons are STEAM-ready makerspaces, which will be used for special classes and science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics activities.
In both lower- and upper-elementary sections are what Matthews calls “fishbowl” areas — small rooms teachers can use for planning, professional development, small-group lessons and specialized help.
Themes Aplenty
Each section has a theme: the DK area is The Pond; kindergarten through first grade area is The Woodlands; grades 2-3 are in a section dubbed The Lakes; and grades 4-5 are in The Dunes. Each is decorated and color coded to match its theme, with wall art adding to the feel.
The sections have lockers, painted with theme-based colors like mossy greens and airy blues, and they’re appropriately sized for each grade level, with the fifth-grade lockers being the tallest.
The school also sports sensory rooms, a spacious gymnasium, separate kitchen and cafeteria areas, a snowmelt system under the concrete, and two playgrounds — one for each half of the building.
And, aside from some last-minute additions, the building is ready for teachers to move in. Matthews said all that’s left is to make sure the technology works, the furniture is in place, and all the trash cans and office supplies are accounted for.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming our almost 400 students here to Edgerton Trails,” he said. “This is a great space for people on the west side of the district.”
The first day, he said, will be “a great day for Rockford Public Schools and all of our students here.”
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