COLORADO SPRINGS — A Colorado Springs school is getting upgrades to improve the learning environment for their students. Queen Palmer Elementary has been open since 1948 and for the past 76 years, they have not had air conditioning until now. This summer, MTech Mechanical installed 20 AC units at Queen Palmer Elementary School to help cool the entire building.
“In the summer, when kids come back in August, when we all know how hot it is, the thing they're going to feel the most is that brand new AC flooding into their building,” said Jessica Wise, Executive Director of Engagement for Colorado Springs School District 11.
She said D11 has embarked on over 100 capital improvement projects this summer.
“That's a big load, but it's really needed to put some love into our schools,” said Wise.
Christina Butcher, Queen Palmer’s Principal, said having air conditioning is a huge game changer for students and teachers.
“We know that when they transition next week, they're going to be walking into a very productive, cool learning environment that's going to allow them to continue to stay focused, engaged in the learning as well as our staff delivering high quality instruction, increasing student outcomes,” said Butcher.
Wise said AC will help children stay focused and engaged in the classroom.
“We are so excited for little ones to come in and be sitting in the classroom in a very comfortable, cool environment that just helps them relax, helps them level out some of that worry about first days and not be escalated by the escalating temperatures in the classrooms,” said Wise.
They have also made improvements to the outside of the building by installing a turf field.
“Over the last couple years, Queen Palmer has really worked on the exterior of the building, making the school more appealing and inviting and giving kids in this very urban environment great places to play and get their energy out and explore through different activities. Now this year with the AC, we're taking care of that interior environment so they can get all hot and sweaty outside and then go inside to a nice school environment to settle their minds and get ready to learn,” said Wise.
Queen Palmer is one of the oldest schools in Colorado Springs.
“Our staff right now are currently blessed to be afforded this opportunity, because we know that when they walk in next week, they're going to be ensured a very productive learning environment that allows high quality instruction here at Queen Palmer. Because of that, we know that our students are going to continue to grow at high levels, because that's what students do best,” said Butcher.
Tyler Corey is a Project Manager for MTech Mechanical. He said they started the project right after Memorial Day.
“Throughout the project, working with District 11 was a lot of fun. The message that they brought across to us was how important this was to the kids. The teachers never once complained about being hot. It was always about the kids,” said Corey.
He said this was the first time he worked alongside D11.
“They're just very passionate about their kids and that was fun to be a part of,” said Corey.
Wise said the District is invested in creating better learning environments for their students.
“We're doing everything we can to take our own resources and funnel them into every one of our schools. Queen Palmer in particular is one of our oldest schools. Queen Palmer, of course, is named after one of our founders here in the city, and so we're just really invested in making sure that this remains a great historical learning institution that can last for another 150 years and go meet the next level of educators,” said Wise.
Queen Palmer Elementary hosted an open house Thursday night. Students will start school on August 12.
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