New Clawson Elementary building opens to students, staff

CLAWSON — A brand new school year is upon students in Clawson Public Schools, which also marks the opening of a brand-new elementary school building.

After 10 months of construction, the new Clawson Elementary School is open for students. The school, which was converted from the 100-year-old Clawson Middle School, replaces the two former elementaries, Schalm and Kenwood.

From flooring, paint, infrastructure and the cafeteria to the gym, media center and expansion of the front office space, Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger said everything is new.

“Quite literally, every aspect of the building is brand-new in some capacity,” he said. “When you have a 100-year-old building, obviously, you know there’s some aspects of it that need to be freshened up, and we’ve done that, really, soup to nuts. It’s every instructional space, every classroom is brand-new, from technology to the chairs and seats that the kids are going to be sitting in, bathrooms in all of our first floor classrooms.

“At the end of the day, a school is for kids to learn and it’s our job to provide them with what we can, and when we have the opportunity, because of our community and their support, to provide our students with the most state-of-the-art instructional environments that we possibly can, which we have done. That’s the most spectacular piece of the whole project,” he continued.

The new school was made possible through two bonds that were approved by voters, a $55 million bond voted on in 2021 and a $25 million bond in 2023.

Though construction took place over the last year, the process to get a new elementary school had been ongoing since 2020. Shellenbarger credited the community, especially through the bond votes, for getting the district to this point.

Shellenbarger said he’s relieved that they were able to get to opening day for the students and staff.

“We have deadlines and we have things we need to serve to our kids and our staffs, and when you’re talking about redoing parking lots and playgrounds and all of these things that are dependent on things like weather and rain and mother nature, you can be filled with a little bit of anxiety related to deadlines, but we’re fortunate to have great partners through the construction process that have helped us meet every deadline and deliver exactly what we promised our residents and school community that we would,” he said.

Clawson Public Schools was able to have a couple of open houses before the official opening to show off the new school to the community. Shellenbarger said the building was received well.

“To hear the parents talk about and see the smiles on their face and how beautiful and sharp and clean everything is, that’s not something we’ve been able to say in my six years here just because of the age of our buildings and the condition,” he said. “It is unique for us because that’s not always what we get structurally here in our school district. Now that we have it, we’re fortunate.”

Heidi Swift-Smith has her child, fifth grader Aubrianna, as a student in the elementary school this year.

Swift-Smith, who attended the old middle school herself, said she wouldn’t have recognized that it was the same building.

“I was familiar with it back when I was in middle school and then my older daughter was in there for middle school. It had really-aged, yellow-looking brick and the hallways were kind of dark, and I walked in there, and it was bright and light and cheerful and I was shocked at how different it looks,” she said.

Swift-Smith said while the other elementary schools were nice, they were short on space for what they needed and couldn’t accommodate half the population that the new elementary school is able to accommodate.

“I like that the younger kids are on the first floor and the older kids are on the second floor. It kind of separates them a little bit,” she said. “As somebody who was born and raised in the community, we were sad to see the other elementary schools go, because we have a sentimental attachment, but when you’re thinking about the long term implications and what is best for the current population of kids, I think it’s an amazing building for them. And so I think once they get into the swing of the new school year, I think it’s going to work well for them.”