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Lee's Summit R-7 Board of Education approves names for two new facilities
07-23-09
By Janice Phelan,
Community Relations Director, R-7 School District
Lee's Summit R-7 Board of Education approves names for two new facilities
The Lee's Summit R-7 School District Board of Education approved names for two new district facilities at a July 23 meeting. Both facilities are funded by an April 2008 voter-approved, no-tax-increase bond issue.
The district’s new special-education, day-treatment facility was named Miller Park Center. This newly renovated facility is located in the district’s vacated former administrative office in downtown Lee’s Summit at the intersection of Sixth and Miller Streets. It houses the district’s behavior learning program which will serve students from kindergarten through high school who were previously served through contracted out-of-district programs.
Miller Park Center also houses a number of Special Services Department employees, including occupational/physical therapists, educational diagnosticians, social worker, behavior/autism specialists, Health Services Department as well as instructors for visually impaired students and orientation/mobility. In addition, the R-7 PTA has an office in the building.
The district’s new swim/dive facility, located on the campus of Summit Lakes Middle School, was named the Lee’s Summit R-7 Aquatic Center. The center serves high school competitive swim programs with opportunities for middle-school intramurals, physical-education/health instruction, extra-curricular elementary instruction and community aquatics. The self-supporting, joint-use Aquatic Center features a 25-yard by 50-meter pool with diving area.
Miller Park Center and the R-7 Aquatic Center are funded through the district’s April 2008 no-tax-increase bond issue. This same issue is funding Sunset Valley Elementary, also opening this fall; new classrooms to provide an all-day kindergarten program for 2009-10; school additions and renovations throughout the district; instructional technology; marching band uniform replacement at Lee's Summit High School and Lee's Summit North High School; and school buses. For more information about this bond issue, visit www.leesummit.k12.mo.us and select "2008 Election Progress."
Both Miller Park Center and the Aquatic Center are examples of the R-7 School District's continuing emphasis on good stewardship of school district funds. Renovation of the district's former administrative office, which the district had outgrown, saved money when compared to new construction. The district was also able to preserve a historic building, originally constructed as a high school in 1922. This well-built facility served R-7 students for many years, first as a high school, then as a junior high and later as an elementary school. In 1975, the building was converted into district offices, serving in this capacity for 32 years.
The Aquatic Center is located on land already owned by the school district, saving costs associated with land purchase. Approximately half of the facility's cost is funded through the no-tax-increase bond issue with the remainder funded from district alternative resources.
Community members will have the opportunity to tour both new facilities as well as Sunset Valley Elementary School during dedication ceremonies scheduled later this fall.
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