Students and staff settle in at new Oberon School

For the first time in nearly a century, elementary students from Oberon and the Spirit Lake Reservation are enjoying a brand new school.

If not for the new Oberon Elementary School, 2021 would have been the old building's 100th anniversary as a school. Instead, students and staff are enjoying all the advantages of a facility not built before the Great Depression.

The 18,000 sq. ft. and roughly $5 million school provides a warm and welcoming environment to its students and staff, not to mention a multitude of new features that make the Oberon Elementary School a state-of-the-art learning environment.

Principal/superintendent Jordan Brown detailed some of those new features and how they're already impacting students' ability to learn.

"There's a lot of updated modern technology like lighting, insulation, heating, and cooling," explained Brown. "It's got a more modern feeling to it. The old building has its charm, but it's hard to upkeep those old buildings."

Brown added, "There's a lot more outlets. Obviously we're in a digital age so we need access to power. Back in the old school you had two outlets, now we've got probably half a dozen in each classroom."

Upon entering the new school, visitors will see a small library and a new work area for staff to prep materials, make copies, and conduct the general tasks needed to prepare their lessons. A new state-of-the-art kitchen, which for the first time features a dishwasher, has also made the kitchen staff's job of feeding more than a hundred students and faculty more manageable.

Meanwhile, younger students at the school get their own cubbies, where they can store textbooks, book bags and coats during class, while older students get their very own lockers - neither of which were available at the old building.

First grade teacher Mary Ann Broe, who has served the Oberon School District for 22 years, detailed a variety of new features that have improved the lives of students and faculty at the new school, such as additional storage, better restrooms and having everything located on one level. One of her favorite new features is the new gym/cafeteria.

"The large gym is fantastic," said Broe. "The kids don't have to worry about tripping over ripples in the wood floor and falling down and getting slivers. Now we have a nice gym where we can eat, have gym time, have movie time, and where we can get the whole group together."

Nevertheless, the school district still has more work to do if they want to realize their building's full potential. New flooring for the gym and hallways has been slow to arrive due to COVID-19 supply issues, and the school is still looking to acquire funding for indoor air conditioning and a new playground.

But in the meantime, students and staff alike are adapting to their new environment, enjoying the new features their school has to offer, and creating new memories.

"There were a lot of emotions when we moved into this school, it was just hard to leave the old one," explained Broe. "We had good memories and some sad memories, and now we're just forming new ones. There's already been new memories at this school with field trips. And like I said, just with gym time and walking the hallways, the whole environment of this school is more inviting."