USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul Building Project on the St. Paul Campus

(Last Updated November 9, 2008.)

November 9, 2008, Update.

The Appearance of the Brick Exterior is Almost Too Good to Be True.

North / Northeasterly View on November 9, 2008, Mostly from Carroll Street Looking South.

East / Northeast View on November 9, 2008.

South / Southeast View on November 9, 2008, from Highway 47.

Pictures Taken September 14, 2008.

New Gymnasium Collage - September 14, 2008.

Pictures Taken September 14, 2008.

View from Parish Hall Looking to the Southeast.

View from Highway 47 Looking to the Northwest.

View from Parish Rectory Looking to the West.

Building Project Footprint, June 2008

Photo Courtesy of Dan Vitt

St. Paul School Addition, View from Northeast Corner of Construction Site, May 22, 2008.

Thursday, May 22, 2008. For the historians in the crowd, we mark Tuesday, May 13, 2008, as the date that the first dirt was moved to begin construction of the new school addition. The picture below was taken at the southeast corner of the construction site looking to the northwest.

Left-to-Right: Mrs. Kim Juenemann, Supt.; Elaine VanLeeuwen, Board Member; Jeff Corn, Board Member; Mr. Mark LaTurner, HS Principal; Mrs. Chelle Kemper, Elementary Principal; Rick Giefer, Mayor; Joe Smith, Farmers National Bank / Goppert Foundation; Dan Vitt, Alumni Association President; Susan Jacquinot, Patron; David O'Bryan, Alumni Association Treasurer and Former Board Member. Not pictured - Mr. Felix Diskin, Retired St. Paul School Principal.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008. The weather was beautiful for groundbreaking today. Folks were a bit camera shy, but you'll have to trust us that about 75 people plus staff and students gathered for the ceremony. Mrs. Juenemann reminisced a bit about the formation of USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul under the themes of, "never, never give up," and "one person can make a difference." She recounted getting a phone call in January 2005 from Susan Jacquinot asking if USD 505 Chetopa would "just listen" to the proposition of accepting St. Paul into their district. This would ultimately lead to the largest transfer of territory in state history and the formation of the first, and only, noncontiguous school district in the state.

She also noted the historical significance of St. Paul Schools, namely (1) the oldest elementary and secondary school in Kansas to be continuously operating on the same site, with the boys school first established here on May 10, 1847; (2) the site of the first elementary and secondary school for girls in Kansas, which was opened on October 10, 1847; and (3) the historical 'coincidence' that the first school was opened here on May 10 (1847) and the Kansas State Board of Education approved the formation of USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul on May 10 (2005).

Much deserved recognition was given to Joe Smith and the Goppert Foundation. It was Joe's leadership shortly after the formation of USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul that started the ball rolling on this project and the Goppert Foundation's contribution of $400,000 served as the impetus for the fundraising drive that continues to inch closer to $800,000. Thanks were also extended to everyone who made a private donation and to all the district patrons who supported the bond issue.

The ceremony is in the history book. Now for the good part. Let's build a school!

March 14, 2008. The site preparation bids for the St. Paul School addition will be opened on April 1. The ground breaking ceremony has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, at 2:30. The construction bids will be opened on April 8. We need to check the final floor plan and see if we owe you an update to the one posted below on December 2, 2007. To the best of our recollection, not much has changed from that design though.

The only thing we see in the final plan that we don't much care for is the connecting point between the new addition and the elementary building is through the hallway into the old gym. We'd much prefer to see a hallway through the little classroom in the northeast corner of the elementary leading directly into the multipurpose room. This is surely a petty concern at best when you consider how much there is to like about the new addition.

In a few short years we've gone from facing the very real prospect of losing our high school to the exciting prospect now of building the equivalent of a new high school. Once again, God has surely blessed this little community.

December 2, 2007. The floor plan for the new school addition has now been finalized. It will include five general-purpose classrooms, art room, music room, science lab, k-12 library / media center, two locker rooms, and a gymnasium with seating capacity near 1,000. This addition will total nearly 35,000 square feet. Current plans are to relocate the high school, grades 9-12, to the new addition. A copy of the approved floor plan is provided below.

July 27, 2007. The modular classroom unit directly east of the elementary school is now being relocated in preparation for the new school addition.

USD 505 Chetopa - St. Paul Bond Issue - Passed on June 5, 2007.