Mile High Academy supporters gathered on Sunday, August 16 for the Grand Opening of their newly renovated school.
Constituent church pastors, the School Operating Committee chair, Building Committee chair, Rocky Mountain Conference administration, and staff of Mile High Academy assisted principal Toakase Vunileva in officially cutting the ribbon to the multi-million dollar campus located eight miles south of their former building.
Before the ribbon was cut Vunileva emotionally told the story of the board’s dream for a school to replace the old structure and how God led them to this property previously occupied by another Christian school.
Following the ceremony guests were invited to tour the facility. Mid-America Union director of education John Kriegelstein, who attended the event, said, “As you come down the stairs to the high school classrooms, you enter a commons area with all the classrooms branching off from it.”
There are only two entrances to the school, making it much easier to monitor who comes and goes. The high school is physically separated from the elementary classrooms and the gymnasium is located on the upper level of the high school.
Focus on mobility
Throughout the school there are no individual student desks, but rather interestingly shaped tables that can be clustered in numerous ways or used individually. Seating is also unique with three basic types: ball chairs (sitting on a ball in a frame with wheels); wobble stools (padded stools of appropriate height with a slightly rounded bottom that allows for some wobbling in place); and fairly conventional chairs that are mounted on wheels.
“All these furnishings allow for quickly rearranging classrooms for different types of learning settings while recognizing the need for young people to move,” Kriegelstein said.
The property is bordered on the back by CO470, a major east-west highway. However, there is a buffer of land that will not be developed that provides protection for students, in addition to the fact that the school area is fenced. The soccer/football field is adjacent to the ball field that the previous owners spent one million dollars upgrading just a few years ago. The elementary playground has been newly surfaced with ground tires.
Registration and parent orientation is being held Aug. 17 and classes start Aug. 24.
More Photos by John Kriegelstein
