Orin Smith Elementary Holds First Day of School

Chehalis School District’s third, fourth and fifth grade students attended their first full day of school at the newly opened Orin Smith Elementary School Wednesday — and administrators partway into the day reported a smooth transition.

With roughly a month and a half left in the school year, Superintendent Ed Rothlin said the time will serve as a good testing period to identify things that can be improved in the new school’s operation.

While it remains to be seen what improvements may become obvious, Rothlin said the contractor, FORMA Construction based out of Olympia, will maintain a presence through the summer, so they can make any necessary adjustments.

Rothlin said that already, there are minor changes planned to the parking lot configuration between the new school and James W. Lintott Elementary to improve efficiency of parents dropping off and picking up students. Kindergarten through second-grade students started class in James W. Lintott Elementary at the beginning of the school year.

Wednesday morning, Rothlin reported a smooth start to the school day. The first drop-off that morning moved smoothly and spirits were high among students and teachers, he said.

“If you were to walk down those hallways today at … 8:45, you would think that we’d been in that building for months,” he said.

Brett Ellingson, the school’s principal, also said spirits were high. Movers brought boxes loaded with items into the school before its opening and community volunteers helped put everything into place.

“It’s just nice to see, every kid was smiling and every parent was waving when they were dropping them off. It’s really a good time for the community just to celebrate this accomplishment,” Ellingson said.

Students attended partial days leading up to the first full day. On Monday, they were shown around the new facility and given the chance to have lunch and recess in the new digs. On Tuesday, parents were invited in for an open house.

Classes were still being led around on tours on Wednesday morning, and the students’ chatter filled the halls, the library and playground.

“I’m still kind of pinching myself,” Ellingson said.

In February 2015, voters passed a $36 million bond for the construction of James W. Lintott and Orin Smith elementary schools on a donated 40-acre plot. The latter’s completion was delayed after the Legislature’s failure to approve a capital budget on time in 2017 denied the project expected state funds. That was remedied after the budget was passed at a later date.

Rothlin said students were temporarily being schooled in R.E. Bennett and Cascade while construction was underway. The heating system in R.E. Bennett — constructed in 1928 — went out. The second grade students housed there were able to be moved to James W. Lintott Elementary when it opened, but third grade students were left in the older building, with a temporary heating system set-up.

They were eventually moved into Cascade — where the heating system also went out roughly a month ago, said Rothlin. The building was kept warm by a series of space heaters until they could be moved into Orin Smith Elementary.

Now, both R.E. Bennett and Cascade sit empty. Rothlin said in the next couple weeks, he hopes a permanent heating system will be restored in R.E. Bennett — a historic building that sits on Market Boulevard that Rothlin said is loved by many in the community.

The Port of Chehalis holds the option to buy both sites. A study is being conducted on the sites by KMB Architects based in Olympia for possible land use. A couple years back, an appraisal found the value of R.W. Bennett to be $1.5 million and Cascade to be $1 million. Legally, the property cannot be purchased for less than 90 percent of the appraised value, said Rothlin.

“Nothing is easy when it comes to public sale of property,” he said.