Vol. IV No. 1 - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI

Olson Elementary School coming to lifeThe start of the school year can be hectic for all schools, but it's especially true for abrand new school. Such is the situation for the new Paul J. Olson Elementary School.Located on the far West side of Madison (southof Mineral Point Rd. and west of County Hwy."M",) Olson School is receiving finishingconstruction touches while teachers and otherstaff are preparing classrooms and the remainderof the building for the arrival of students onTuesday, September 2.Olson families will have had two opportunities tobe inside the building prior to the first day ofclasses. Enrollment day took place on August 21, and tours of the building wereavailable for a two hour period on August 28.Around these times, Principal Pam Emmerich has beencoordinating a myriad of details -- all of them new --necessary for the school day to take place in anorganized fashion. Emmerich has been working withsome members of the 41-person staff to developstudent arrival and dismissal procedures, lunch andplayground guidelines, student behavior expectations,and even traffic flow information.This is in addition to assisting with the coordination offurniture set-up and placement in all the rooms, theordering of other materials, and communicating withfamilies and staff members. Emmerich said, "Yes, it'sa very busy time but it's also exciting and energizing toprepare for educating students in this wonderfulfacility."Installing a leg on a classroom tableOn the building side, Director of BuildingServices Doug Pearson and custodial andtrades staff along with sub-contractors aregoing through "building commissioning"which is basically checking all thebuilding systems and controls for properfunctioning.The Olson School exterior is completeand the grounds are almost there. Sodhas been placed near the building but theremainder of the grounds is being seeded.