Pictured, L-R: Principal Steve VanHammen, Most Reverend David Walkowiak, Rev. Dave Gross. Photo by Kelly Ruffing.
Students, parents, teachers and school, parish and diocesan leaders gathered June 4 to dedicate the new building at St. Mary’s School in Spring Lake. The parish also celebrated the 50th anniversary of its church building.
Most Reverend David Walkowiak, Bishop of Grand Rapids, and superintendent of Catholic schools Dave Faber joined Rev. Dave Gross, St. Mary’s pastor, and Steve VanHammen, St. Mary’s School principal, for the festivities, which were celebrated on Pentecost.
The new school building was completed in time to start holding classes following the students’ Thanksgiving 2016 break. The $5.5 million Catholic Education Center is the first new elementary school building in the Diocese of Grand Rapids in almost 20 years. It improves safety, enhances opportunities for collaborative learning, and accommodates technological advances for 21st-century learning. It brings the school’s preschool through 8th grade students under one roof; previously, classrooms were in multiple buildings on the St. Mary Catholic Church campus. Construction took about eight months, following a March 18, 2016, groundbreaking.
When students moved into the building, St. Mary pastor Rev. Dave Gross said he’s extremely grateful for the community’s support of this project. “We have over a thousand donors who have given to the project; we have people who have been giving time -- painting, and installing ceiling tiles, and cleaning -- the last four, five, six weeks,” he said. “It’s been an amazing experience, and something that we’re all very grateful for.”
“We’re very excited today; the kids are going to be in awe of this wonderful new building,” said Principal Steve VanHammen on the first day the new building began hosting classes. “To have everybody [under one roof] where we don’t have to put on coats and hats to get to P.E. or to lunch will save a lot of time, and we can spend more time in the classroom.”
Those classrooms are state of the art, too, with smart boards, upgraded computers, and collaborative learning spaces, in addition to using the latest technology for safety and security.
See photos of the June 4 dedication at this link. See photos of the first school day in the new building at this link.