POWAY: Parents, students get look at energy-efficient school

Classes start on Tuesday in Poway Unified

By SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer | Friday, August 15, 2008 10:18 PM PDT ∞

POWAY --- If keeping a classroom lit with daylight when the lights are out is difficult, try growing a garden ---- in the hallway.

That's what Del Sur Elementary, one of Poway Unified School District's two new schools, is doing.

Vaulted ceilings, skylights, solar panels and expansive windows light the way for an environmentally friendly campus that district officials said surpasses the state's energy-efficiency requirements and certification program, which recognizes schools that limit the impact on the environment and resources.

Judging from the initial reactions from parents and students who toured the $29.5 million campus for the first time on Friday, just days before the start of school, Del Sur has exceeded their expectations, as well.

"I am jealous I don't get to go here," 11-year-old Ajay Nathan said as he walked around with his parents and 9-year-old sister, who will attend fifth grade at Del Sur this year. "This should be on a TV show called 'America's Coolest Public Schools.' "

From the 34 classrooms that are equipped with digital projectors to enlarge Web sites and videos; to electronic boards that teachers can write on; to the photographs of erupting volcanoes, the sea and the solar system that line the walls, it's an exceptional school, Ajay said.

Then there's the elevated, built-in garden with about a dozen flower pots outside one classroom in the center of the school.

On Tuesday, some 250 students, including Ajay's sister, Abhi, will walk the carpeted hallways, break in new classroom furniture and open books that are freshly out of the wrapper.

Del Sur is one of two elementary schools opening in the Poway Unified School District on Tuesday. Like its more traditional counterpart, Willow Grove Elementary School, the campus will draw kindergarten through fifth-grade students from the western region of the district.

The schools, which were open to parents and the community for school picnics on Friday, also will be the last elementary schools built in the 36-school, 33,000-student district, officials said.

"It's going to spring us forward," Del Sur Principal Doug Johnson said of the campus, which will place an emphasis on science and technology.

Johnson said the school ---- from the energy-efficient design that limits the need for heating and cooling by putting all the classrooms in one building, to the ecology clubs he hopes to start on campus ---- will be geared toward readying students for the 21st century.

The 10,000 square feet of solar panels installed on the side of the building and the scaled-back use of air conditioning and heating are expected to reduce energy bills by as much as $14,000 a year.

"They have got it right," Del Sur parent Colleen Thorstenson said as she took in the school's hallway. "It's very impressive, state of the art and beautifully done. ... It's really going to inspire the kids."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.

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