Share: 

Love Creek elementary inches toward opening

Ribbon cutting to be held Tuesday, Aug. 29
August 25, 2017

Anticipation is building as Cape Henlopen's newest elementary prepares to open.

After more than a year of construction, workers are putting the finishing touches on Love Creek Elementary. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 29.

"It's amazing from week to week how much work gets done," said Superintendent Robert Fulton.

The public is invited to the ribbon cutting, which includes a reception and a chance to see the interior of the facility, he said.

Voters approved a $31 million referendum in 2014 to build Love Creek. Ground was broken in 2015, and passersby along Route 24 have had a direct view as the building has taken shape in a former farm field across from Beacon Middle School.

Sized to house 720 students from kindergarten to fifth grade, the school is expected to open at 80 percent capacity, Fulton said. That enrollment allows the school to be closed to school choice.

It's a trend throughout the district – all schools in Cape Henlopen School District are at 80 percent capacity and also closed to school choice, Fulton said.

In Love Creek Elementary, classrooms are built around learning centers where comfortable chairs and low tables give a living room feel. Classrooms are secure with card key access, and doors to the learning centers can be secured in the event that extra security is needed, Fulton said.

Kindergartners and students in first through third grades are on the first level, which also includes the main office, nurse station, library, cafeteria and a multipurpose room for gym with a stage area that can be closed off for band. Fourth- and fifth-graders have second-floor classrooms with their own learning centers.

Teachers in every classroom have desks that can adjust for sitting and standing. "It's a nice option they have," Fulton said.

There are also café-style collaborative areas for teachers at each grade level. The rooms sport flat-screen televisions, cushioned chairs and counter seating. Lights can be set for a "Starbucks effect," and

there are plenty of hookups for computers and technology, said Brian Bassett, director of facility operations and construction.

Love Creek serves as the prototype for two new elementaries that will be built in the Cape Henlopen School District. New schools will be built to replace H.O. Brittingham Elementary and Rehoboth Elementary will have the same design as Love Creek with some minor changes, Bassett said. However, colors used inside each school will vary and also the theme. Love Creek follows a sea theme, while other schools will follow nautical or pirate themes, Fulton said.

Love Creek enrollment line

New enrollment areas for Cape's elementary schools were drawn in 2016 to include Love Creek when it opens.

Enrollment lines for Love Creek Elementary took attendance areas from Rehoboth, Shields and Milton elementary schools for an area south of Route 9. The five elementary schools will feed into the district's two middle schools.

During a May 2016 meeting on enrollment lines, Fulton said sending districts for the middle schools will stay the same. Students in Shields and Love Creek straddle the line dividing Mariner and Beacon middle schools, which means some students at those two schools will attend Mariner and some Beacon, he said.

SCHOOL TIMES 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR

Cape High – 7:40 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.

Mariner Middle and Beacon Middle – 7:40 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.

Shields, Milton, H.O. Brittingham, Love Creek and Rehoboth elementaries – 8:55 a.m. to 3:55 p.m.

Sussex Consortium – 8:40 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter