Lakeview K-8 layout gives teachers, students new opportunities

When Lakeview rolled out its brand new K-8 building this year, the concept is what raised a lot of eyebrows. 

Now that winter break is here, it's a good time to check in and see how this new era is making a difference.

As for the building itself, the moment you walk in you know it's something different. There are no hallways, just giant common areas and a certain energy in every corner.

"Just to get kids moving and realize that education isn't sitting in a chair for six hours a day. That's not really what education is like in 2018 and we know it's not going to be that way in the future," said elementary principal Scott Taylor.

Lakeview planned this entire building around the concept of flexibility. Just about every space can turn into something else.

"Everything is on wheels because the whole point is flexibility and movement," said Taylor.

There's no library, for instance. Instead, you'll find books to check out in just about every area of the school.

If you think the common areas would be a distraction for kids in the classroom, they didn't even notice a TV camera in the common areas.

"The kids adjusted to the common area very quickly," said Kristina Denman, a 4th grade English Language Arts teacher. "I feel like it gives the kids a little bit more responsibility and they've done really well with it. It just enlarges our classroom. Now the kids are reading outside, they're playing games, they're working on technology."

The teaching spaces allow for a whole lot of flexibility for the teachers too. They basically have garage doors that close each classroom. Some of them keep it open, others would keep it closed. The rooms also have dividers that can either keep classrooms separate or can be removed to open up classrooms as large groups.

"We do a lot of team teaching now," said 1st-grade teacher Dana Petrunia. "I'll teach a lesson and she supports me, or she'll teach a lesson and I support her. It's so fun."

"It is. It's a lot of fun and we're finding now that we're doing it so much that we're finishing each other's sentences," said 1st-grade teacher Jennifer McAllister, whose room shares a wall with Petrunia's.

We haven't even touched on some of the other perks like a rooftop garden or lounge areas overlooking the cafeteria. Just the layout itself is a game-changer.

"It kind of does feel like it was always like this. I don't remember, 'How did we do that the ancient way before?' It seems so funny that this is just our new way of teaching now," said Petrunia.

"Just to see our teachers thinking in new ways and seeing students excited about learning has been inspiring," said Taylor.

Changing the way teachers teach in the school of the future that's very much in the present in Cortland.