Thornapple Kellogg — The district was milling and repaving all its parking lots before the first day of school in August, bringing the final stages of bond work that began five years ago across the finish line.
The low-profile project follows several larger ones that set the district up for growth over the next 10 to 15 years, said Superintendent Craig McCarthy.
In 2019, voters approved a $42.8 million, 25-year school improvement bond focusing on three district-wide areas: basic needs, growth and enhancing learning environments.
“I am really enjoying that we are pulling everything together,” McCarthy said. “We said we were going to do these things, and we did it all, without asking the community for more money.”
Projects Promised and Delivered
When McCarthy joined Thornapple Kellogg Public Schools as assistant superintendent in 2018, he helped envision a plan to meet long-term student, staff and structural needs.
“Our facilities study pointed out where we had deficits in our capacity to serve students and meet structural needs,” McCarthy said. “We started looking at projects to meet the needs of our community.”
The 2019 bond funded projects at all three elementary buildings, middle and high schools and the construction of a brand new early childhood center, which opened in August 2022.
Compared to the district’s former 15,000-square-foot early learning center, which was demolished this summer, the almost 33,000-square-foot ECC has 10 preschool classrooms, sensory and multi-purpose rooms, office spaces and a large meeting room.
The facility also houses the district’s Great Start Readiness Program and early childhood special education program.
McCarthy said building the new ECC was the “capstone of the whole (bond) project.”
“It was built with growth in mind and has been a lot of work but a lot of fun,” he said.
The ECC’s playground was designed as a natural playscape, including tree logs for climbing, stumps for sitting, sand and “mud kitchen” play areas, as well as traditional play structures.
“They have one of the best playgrounds in the district,” McCarthy said.
When he visits the ECC, McCarthy said he loves seeing students enjoying the space and using the cubbies for their backpacks — and occasional hiding spots.
The bond also allowed the district to make HVAC improvements, including installing air conditioning in all instructional buildings for the first time.
“One of the challenges we faced during the (COVID-19) pandemic was to postpone McFall’s AC for a year,” McCarthy said. “We also faced price increases, but luckily were able to utilize some of the ESSER dollars to cover costs of air handling and filtration systems.”
‘We said we were going to do these things, and we did it all, without asking the community for more money.’
– Superintendent Craig McCarthy
Another major project involved collaborating with GMB Architecture and the village of Middleville to reconfigure parking lots at Lee and McFall Elementary. McCarthy said the goal was to get the majority of cars off the main roads, avoid traffic jams and allow students to get dropped off and picked up safely.
Other completed bond projects include:
- Six new kindergarten classrooms and new art and music rooms at McFall Elementary
- Three new classrooms, staff workroom and additional parking lot to improve traffic flow at Lee Elementary
- Four new classrooms, including music, art and special education classrooms, and a renovated and expanded cafeteria at Page Elementary
- New carpet, flooring and paint at the middle school
At the high school, the bond funded a cafeteria renovation, 10 new tennis courts, with a new second parking lot and pool upgrades to support the district’s elementary learn-to-swim program and existing community programs.
Looking forward to the next five to 10 years, McCarthy said the district hopes to continue maintaining its facilities, as well as its valuable partnership with the community
“We have conversations about the ‘what if’s,’ but we will continue to do what we can for the district without bond dollars,” he said. “Our facilities look fantastic and our students have what they need in the classrooms. We’re in a very good position right now.”
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