Tiger Paw Students Officially Cut Ribbon on Storm Shelter
Spring of 2024 has already proven the need for Ozark School District to have a storm shelter at every building. And, as of May 21, Ozark is one step closer with the official Ribbon Cutting for the storm shelter at Tiger Paw Early Childhood Center.
The building, which doubles as a cafeteria, opened to students May 13, where one student proudly exclaimed to Tiger Paw Principal Dr. Elizabeth Dawson, “I really like this place, I think we should keep it.”
Dawson agreed and, at the Ribbon Cutting May 21, explained to the community why this shelter was so needed.
“This new addition does so many things for our building as a whole. It allows our students to have a warm breakfast and lunch, which is something they haven’t had before,” she said. “Also, of course, the safety of everyone here at Tiger Paw. We now have a storm shelter so that in those times of emergency we can easily transition to this space and have it be low stress for students. We can watch a movie on the projector or have a dance party. It doesn’t have to be a scary thing for our students when we come into this space whenever there are storms. I think I can speak for all of our staff, students and parents of our students, that this is something we appreciate immensely and is really going to make a positive impact for years and years to come.”
The Tiger Paw storm shelter, located on the south side of the school on Church Street, was part of the $19 million no-tax-increase bond issue voters approved in April 2022. It is not only a shelter in emergency situations, but it will drastically improve lunch time for Ozark’s littlest learners. Before, the gym doubled as the cafeteria, and there was no kitchen, so meals had to be delivered daily from East Elementary.
Assistant Superintendent of Operations Dr. Curtis Chesick said transporting meals and setting up tables twice a day in the gymnasium was far from ideal.
“This is a great opportunity for us to serve kids. We haven't served kids meals in here with a kitchen since 1994,” he said. “So it’s awesome that we get to do that.”
Chesick then bragged on the “three-legged stool” of Esterly Schneider & Associates, Inc. architecture/design, and the construction manager at risk, Branco Enterprises, Inc., and Ozark School District that has worked together to keep the projects on time and even under budget.
“The Board of Education actually voted to reduce the gross maximum price of all projects by $1.4 million at the last board meeting because of the work that Esterly Schneider put in and the way that Branco was able to save us some money,” Chesick said. “It’s a great partnership and we are so happy to watch kids walk in here.”
Assistant Superintendent of Learning Dr. Craig Carson said while the building itself is beautiful and serves many purposes, it ultimately will positively impact student learning.
“It allows us to have a space that is just dedicated for programming that needs to be in a gymnasium. It gives us space for indoor recess, a place for physical movement for students,” he said. “We are just enormously grateful to our community. What it does educationally for us is huge.”
Board of Education Vice President Amber Bryant thanked the community and voters for their support before touching on the history of the original building, constructed in 1922.
“Over the past century, it has served as a beacon for learning and opportunity for countless children, many of whom have gone on to shape the future of our community and beyond. Even today we had elected officials who were talking about attending school in this building,” Bryant said. “As we look to the future let us honor the legacy of the Ozark School District by continuing to value and invest in education. A strong partnership between our community and school district is important because it creates a high quality of life for our students, our staff, community members and even visitors to our city. And this will continue for generations to come.”
The Tiger Paw storm shelter is one of three provided by the 2022 bond. The Ozark Middle School storm shelter opened in March, and the Ozark High School storm shelter is on schedule to open in June. An official ribbon cutting for the OHS shelter, along with the OHS activities center, will be in August.
Learn more details on these projects at www.ozarktigers.org/bond.
