District unveils new leadership center with ribbon cutting and tour

​“This feels pretty grown up,” Grain Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Brad Welle remarked, welcoming a group to the district’s new Leadership Center Thursday, June 29.

“Grown up” is a very good way to describe the school district’s new space. The words pull together the smooth lines, modern colors, and sophisticated feel of the whole building.

In the beginning stages of the process, when the district was deciding what they wanted the new building to look like, the administrative team went on tours of other school district buildings in the area with lead architect, Nicole Young, in order to brainstorm ideas.

“The district administrative team really got to rethink how they worked and how they would want to use this building,” Ms. Young explained. “They spent a lot of time thinking about what is going to be best for the community and what’s best for the people that work here.”

“We are thrilled to have a beautiful and welcoming space for our distinguished district to foster collaboration and engagement,” Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Amanda Allen, said of the new building. “We feel very fortunate to have such a remarkable facility to signify our commitment as a top-rated district with a desire to invest in our future.”

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nick Gooch led a group on a tour of the new building. Gooch pointed out a few key security related features from the front of the building. In order to get into the building, visitors must ring the bell and be buzzed in by the receptionist at the desk. After being let in the front door, visitors will talk to the receptionist and must be buzzed through the doors again before getting all the way into the building.

Safety concerns were at the forefront of design plans for the entrance of the building. The front of the building was designed to be bulletproof, and a private meeting room just off of the building’s entrance has no access to the rest of the building. Gooch explained that this meeting room is just another built in security feature for the facility, on the occasion that a tense meeting with a visitor would take place, the individual would have no access to the rest of the building. 

The district's new board room where Board of Education meetings will be held is located at the front of the building. The room was designed to hold approximately the same capacity as the Jan Reding Room at Grain Valley High School where meetings had previously been held. The board room was designed with acoustics in mind, allowing meeting attendees to hear more clearly and without outside distractions. 

After leaving the board room, Gooch led the group down the main, secured, hallway that led left to what the district is calling the curriculum department side of the building. This wing of the facility houses Dr. Amanda Allen, the district's new Director of Curriculum, Annie Palmer, new Communications Specialist, Hannah Shackles, and the district’s special education department.

Offices on the curriculum side are set up in traditional office cubicle style, which Gooch said caused concerns regarding noise from some of those who will be working on this side. In order to alleviate this problem, a white noise machine was installed in the building. This cuts down on the noise from people having conversations in their offices that may have otherwise caused distractions.
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The right side is the “business side” of the building. On the business side of the building, the offices are set up a bit differently. Accounts Payable is housed in a financial suite. Gooch said this is designed for the team to be able to interact with each other and work as a unit because the projects that department works on sometimes require more collaboration and brainstorming as a group.

Also on the business side of the building is an executive conference room. This is where the Board of Education will meet when they adjourn their meetings into executive session, as well as some of the most important meetings within the district.

The Leadership Center was designed with expansion in mind for if and when that is required. The business wing ends in a hallway with a door at the end of it which provides a fire exit right now but has the possibility to be cut out in order for the building to be expanded out that direction.

Both sides of the building have a work room with a copier, fax machine, and other supplies. The two are connected in the middle by a breakroom for those working in the building.

“A new building often symbolizes growth, progress and a shared sense of purpose within a community,” Allen reiterated. She added that the district team members that work in the Leadership Center have already seen increased productivity in the new space.

Welle said that though some board meetings may be held in other spots once or twice each year, the district and the board is overjoyed to have such a beautiful new space to call home for their workshops and business meetings. 

District leadership welcomed the community to its new Leadership Center with a ribbon cutting and tour on Thursday, June 29. Photo credit: Cole Arndorfer