Schools

It Took 90 Years, but Richards School Addition Now Complete

Students enjoyed lunch in the new cafeteria/auditorium for the first time Tuesday.

When Richards School was built in the 1920s, the plans called for additional wings on the north and the side of the building. The south wing was built shortly after the original building was constructed, and roughly 90 years later, the north wing was opened to students Tuesday.

The addition to Richards School - a multipurpose room that includes a cafeteria and a stage area - was unveiled in a grand opening ceremony Tuesday afternoon attended by parents, teachers, community members and school officials.

At the ceremony, Whitefish Bay School Board President Marie Greco thanked the community for making the construction addition possible by approving two referendum questions in November 2009.

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"It is the people of Whitefish Bay that enable our district to be great. Community, parents, teachers, and students working together are the heart of our schools. Today I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community members for authorizing an upgrading of these schools," she said. "Your level of commitment is unique and allows us to enhance the ability to teach effectively and to create an optimal teaching environment. Like residents of the past, your commitment to quality education is remarkable."

Richards School Principal Mark Tenorio said the new cafeteria is a welcome addition to the school, as the space limitations of the existing cafeteria required multiple shifts to handle all of the students who stay for lunch. 

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"I cannot imagine how we did for all these years," Tenorio said.

After eating lunch in the room for the first time Tuesday, one child told Tenorio that walking into the new cafeteria was "like walking into a whole new world."

Tenorio said the completion of the school's addition is the "prelude to the transformation of our building."

The school's existing cafeteria will be converted into two classrooms, a cognitively disabled classroom and a special education classroom.

Additionally, two fourth-grade classrooms and a music classroom will be renovated. The guidance, health and physical therapy area will be converted to a kindergarten classroom. Another classroom will be converted to an art classroom. Other minor renovations include additional toilets for kindergarten rooms, guidance space, conference space, and a health room.


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