By JON BAKER

LINCOLN — It was just about two weeks ago that Cathy Smith and Jess Vincent entered their respective classrooms at the Northern Early Learning Center to prepare for the upcoming school year.

Both admitted being stunned at the physical turnabout.
“I was thrilled,” grinned Smith, for 10 years a preschool teacher who spends most of her time in ELC Room 2. “It was clean and fresh, and there was plenty of storage space for myself and the children. I couldn’t wait to set up my room. It used to be so shabby. I have to say it was better than I anticipated it to be.”
Stated Vincent, in her second year as “chief” of ELC Room 3: “Beforehand, my classroom was so much darker. The carpets were old and worn, and my blinds were ripped. They wouldn’t work. Now things are perfect. I’m amazed at the difference.”
The two instructors spent Tuesday afternoon thanking Angelo Mencucci and his staff, not to mention Schhols Superintendent Georgia Fortunato and especially T. Joseph Almond.
Mencucci is the school district's director of non-instructional operations. Almond is town administrator, on hand to peruse the refurbished class sites on this, school’s “Opening Day.”
Fortunato said these rooms hadn’t been updated since the combination elementary school/early learning center’s opening back in 1972. According to Almond, the renovations came at a cost of $112,700, far below the appropriation of $204,000 by the town’s Capital Development Committee.
“That means Angelo and his staff did a terrific job of getting these rooms ready over the summer, and the best part is he came in way under budget,” Almond noted. “The big thing is that schools are still town property; they’re owned by the town. The budget gets so tight, it becomes very difficult for our schools superintendent to undertake it within her budget. It’s too big a project for
Georgia’s budget and too small to attempt it as a capital bond.
“I consider it smart to invest in such structures because it saves the taxpayers in the end,” he added. “As Georgia pointed out before, this is something that should’ve been done a long time ago. This is also the kind of thing that results from additional new gaming revenue (from Twin River), and what that money was earmarked for.”
Almond said the remaining $87,300 will remain in the town’s capital reserve, meaning those funds could be used for either school or municipal projects down the road.
“If you neglect your facilities, that will significantly impact teaching and learning,” Fortunato said. “I know we’re going to see a positive effect here.”
Among the restorations accomplished -- in less than 90 days:
*  in both “integrated” rooms,  for 3- to -5-year-olds with or without developmental disabilities, a “saw-tooth” ceiling was replaced with a standard, level-plane roof of similar acoustic quallities;
*  energy-efficient lighting was installed that increased brightness while using at least one-third less electricity;
*  a 24-inch high sink/water fountain/counter and new cubbyholes were built;
*  new vinyl floor tiles and carpeting went in.
“I talked to the teachers; it used to be that they had a free-standing ‘house’ consisting of cubby holes with only a peg for jackets, lunch boxes and the like,” Mencucci said. “They told me that the little ones could hide behind them, or they couldn’t see their teachers if they went to help a child. They weren’t safe, so we tore them down and built 28 new ones in each room. They’re made with laminated formica, so they’re easy to wipe, and no paint was involved. That’s so a higher level of cleanliness could be achieved.
“We also built in each an age-appropriate bathroom, one compliant with the American Disabilities Act,” he added. “They’re much more easily accessible for one in a wheelchair. The old ones used to be 4 feet by 4 feet, and the new ones are 6 feet by 8 feet, with a sink and toilet much simpler to use for the students. And we brought in new 36-inch doors, as required by the ADA, instead of the old ones at 30 inches.
“With the carpeting, this is the same that we have at the high school. Say a child spills something on the floor -- this carpeting has a vinyl backing so the fluid can’t leak through, and that means no mildew. The fluids can be easily extracted from the carpet itself.”
Mencucci also purchased new "whiteboards” -- think of chalkboards without the chalk -- where instructors use felt-like markers to exhibit counting and the A-B-Cs. (Also taught are pre-reading and pre-math skills, fine-motor skills, painting and speech and language therapies).
Both Smith and Vincent develop and use independent education plans (IEPs) for those with special educational needs. They also involve peers to help exhibit model behaviors, not to mention social and academic skills, said principal Monique Latessa.
“The children that are on IEPs are benefitting from being educated by their peer models in this inclusive setting,” she said. “For example, peers can demonstrate a desired behavior, and those with IEPs can be taught to imitate interactions with other children.
“These classrooms are beautiful, and it’s been a long time coming,” she continued. “Yes, they were that bad. When you walked into those rooms before, the ceilings were too low, meaning they were shaped in a ‘V’ in the middle. Now, they’re open and more easily accessible to the children. Everyone can get around so much easier, which provides for a better learning environment.
“There is no difference in curricula; we just wanted to create a better atmosphere and aesthetics. The purpose of the renovation was to update those areas, turn them into a 21st century preschool classroom.”
Offered Smith: “It’s night and day in these rooms, and both Jess and I are ecstatic. I noticed that even the kids have seen the difference. One little boy looked at me, at about 12:40 (p.m. Tuesday), and said, ‘I go to a nice school, don’t I?’ Isn’t that beautiful?”