GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) leaders announced Wednesday they would be seeking community input on the naming of the district’s new $36 million elementary school.
The building is GRPS’ first new school constructed in northeast Grand Rapids in 60 years.
The new school will house pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students from Aberdeen Academy and Palmer Elementary, two northeast Grand Rapids schools scheduled to close in 2027 due to high maintenance costs and low enrollment.
As construction begins, Superintendent Leadriane Roby said the district is seeking community input on the school’s new name.
Now through Dec. 19, community members can submit suggestions for what the new elementary school should be called on the Reimagine GRPS Dashboard.
Then, a committee of scholars, families and staff will narrow the list before the community votes on it, Roby said. The final recommendation will be made to the district’s Board of Education.
“I want to emphasize, this is your school,” Roby said. “We know that the best name, one that will represent the community with pride, will come from you.”
As school leaders, public officials, parents and students gathered on Wednesday, Oct. 8 to watch GRPS break ground, Roby described it as “one of the most significant days of our district in the 150-plus years of Grand Rapids Public Schools.”
“Today, we get to break ground on the future of education in our city, using the expertise of educators (to) create a new building that will support our children for generations to come.”
The new school, expected to open by fall 2027, is located directly behind the site of what is now Aberdeen Academy, 928 Aberdeen St.
Roby said when GRPS first announced its campus restructuring plan two years ago, the district intended to close the Aberdeen site entirely.
“Our community spoke up and told us why this site mattered for this side of our district and community,” she said, “and we listened, we went back, studied the alternatives and returned with a new plan.”
The existing Aberdeen Academy will remain open while construction is ongoing.
Upon completion of the new building, the Aberdeen school will be demolished during the summer of 2027. Some community members initially protested the loss of the historic building.
Aberdeen Principal Michelle Miller said some third-grade students who shared their thoughts with her were hesitant to leave the old building. They said they would miss the basketball court and library, and bemoaned not yet knowing where every new book would be placed in a new library.
But she said there was also excitement about the new building.
“I’m looking forward to watching our school being built before my very eyes,” one third-grader wrote. Another said, “I’m excited to be going to a completely new school building, but mostly I’m excited for air conditioning.”
“Nearly every essay had that,” Miller said, “As it was very hot the day this was assigned.”
The new building will have capacity for 450 students.
Architecture firms Wightman and DLR Group designed the new building to reflect the spirit of the school’s Redhawk mascot, with two classroom wings extending from a central hub housing the gymnasium and cafeteria.
The school will have 20 classrooms, with three rooms per grade level and two for pre-K, along with five special education spaces, music and art classrooms and a media center.
Outside the school, there will be two playground areas.
Alex Smart, GRPS executive director of facilities and operations, said they will be connected so students can move between them, and each will be fully accessible.
The two-story building will have a sunken lower level to remain level with the surrounding neighborhood. The main entryway will connect to the drop-off area through a bridge.
Smart said a separated bus drop-off area and car pick-up point for parents will help the flow of traffic, as well as improve building security.
The upper level of the building will include a reception/administrative area and special education offices, along with classrooms for third, fourth and fifth grade.
The lower level will have pre-K through second-grade classrooms, an open-concept media center and community space, the gymnasium, a music room, an art room and the cafeteria.
Architects who presented initial details during an April design unveiling said skylights and windows will bring tons of natural lighting into the center of the building, including the media center and gymnasium.
In addition to a secure entryway, each of the upper floor’s hallways will have secure points that could be locked down in case of an emergency.
The Grand Rapids Board of Education unanimously approved the plan to build a new elementary school on the northeast side of the city in March 2024.
The cost of the building’s construction will be covered by a $305 million bond that was approved by GRPS voters in November 2023. Around $233 million of the bond was earmarked for building constructions, renovations and additions.
The school construction project was initially slated to cost $38 million.
The current Aberdeen Academy building was built in 1929 and has accumulated $6.6 million in deferred maintenance costs, according to the district. It also does not have air conditioning, and Stier said the cost to install it is one reason why the building was ultimately slated for demolition.
Palmer Elementary, 309 Palmer St. NE, was built in 1954 and has accrued $3.7 million in deferred maintenance costs. It’s utilized at 53%, and is landlocked without a parking lot, something district leaders pointed to when slating it for closure.
Smart said while the school is new, the district doesn’t want to forget about the past.
“We’re very excited about the opportunities that we have to incorporate some of the architectural motifs that the building has, and we’re going to be very carefully removing them and incorporating them inside the new building and throughout the site.”