By Chris Wilson

Oak Hall School, the private college preparatory school located just off Tower Rd. on SW 14th Ave., is providing a new facility for its youngest students. The school opened its new Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) on December 19. The new building boasts state-of-the-art technology, environmentally-friendly features and plenty of fun characteristics for the age three through Kindergarten classrooms.

Prior to the new building’s opening, these classes met in one of Oak Hall’s oldest buildings, which was built in 1969. “The school is growing,” says the head of Oak Hall’s lower school Kathy Gaston. “There will still be classes in the older building, but we had to expand because of the growth of the school.”

The new facility will be the weekday home for 126 students, including age three preschoolers, junior Kindergarten for four-year-olds and Kindergarten classes. The building is considered the cornerstone of the school’s “Strategic Plan” to grow the school from the youngest grades up, according to Oak Hall headmaster Richard Gehman.

“Your education is a part of you,” says Gehman. “It’s huge. It’s not just about the building, but about the education and learning that’s going on inside.”

The new ECLC was built with a combination of an industrial development bond and donors. Gehman says the school will continue to seek donations to pay for the bond.

The 10,219-square-foot building features a restricted access security system and all of the Kindergarten classrooms have SmartBoards, a touch-sensitive display connected to a computer and a digital projector. “We have all the necessary computer hookups, an intercom and phone connections,” says Gehman. “There is even a kitchen for the kids to learn in.”

In addition, each classroom is outfitted with three sinks, water fountains, two bathrooms and a large walk-in storage closet. All of the classrooms and the building’s multi-purpose room are half carpeted to provide an area for students to sit or nap and half tiled to provide an easy clean-up area for crafts, lunch and snack time. The tables and benches in the multi-purpose room also fold up into the wall to create space and easy storage. 

According to Gehman, the building also features environmentally “green” features, including an overhang on the east side of the building that helps moderate the interior temperature and large windows throughout the building that provide plenty of natural light. In addition, several of the rooms and storage closets feature motion-sensor lights that turn “on” when a person enters the room and turn “off” upon exiting the room.

Aside from classrooms, the ECLC also has a faculty lounge and a room for “special area teachers,”?including Spanish, physical education, computer, science, art and music teachers. The programs in the ECLC emphasize math, reading and language readiness to prepare the students for the academics they will encounter in the lower school.

For information about attending Oak Hall’s Early Childhood Learning Center or for a tour of the facility, call director of admission for the lower school Nancy Coleman at 332-1452.

Oak Hall School is located at 8009 SW 14th Ave. in Gainesville. For more information, call 332-3609 or visit www.oakhall.org.