Supt. Dr. Chris Sullens explains the features of the new gym at Belle Alexander School. [Photo by Mike Berry]

If you’ve driven past Belle Alexander School in recent months and wondered why a school for kindergartners and first-graders needs a big new gym, that’s understandable.

But while the addition on the south side of the school does include a beautiful $2.5 million gym, there are also six new classrooms, new larger restrooms and a host of other embellishments to the school. Those improvements cost $2.2 million in all.

Add to that the cost of a $1.9 million addition at Neponset Elementary School, and the total cost of the major expansions to the two schools comes to just over $6.6 million.

Kewanee School Supt. Dr. Chris Sullens said the projects were paid for by a series of three major grants the school district received from the federal government as part of the COVID-19 recovery effort.
Those funds also paid for adding air conditioning for all the gyms and cafeterias in the district, to give space for students to “spread out” if there’s another pandemic.

Sullens and Belle Principal Cassie Douglas recently led a tour of the newly expanded school for The Kewanee Voice.

The expansion adds to the classrooms and other space that were created in an addition to the school five years ago, Sullens said.
The additional classroom space provided by the two additions will allow for smaller class sizes, which should allow teachers to spend more time with each student when necessary.

There is now “more elbow room for the kids,” Sullens said.

Belle students engage in learning-based activities during summer school, which wrapped up Friday. [Photo by Mike Berry]

There is also new state-of-the-art educational equipment at Belle.
For example, Mrs. Douglas pointed to the Lu Interactive system, a projection system that uses learning-centered apps and games.
Every Belle student now has a Chromebook portable computer, and all the new classrooms have big flatscreen TVs connected to the Internet, so teachers can use the latest educational materials they found online. The centerpiece of the addition is the new gym, a regulation-size floor with six rows of bleachers along one side.

While Belle students will be able to use the gym, especially on days when it’s rainy or too cold to go outdoors, Sullens said it will also be used by Kewanee High students.

The high school has boys and girls basketball teams, and girls volleyball teams, for the freshman, sophomore and varsity levels.
With so many teams competing for practice times, the freshman teams have had to practice later in the evening. Having the new gym at Belle means the freshmen will be able to practice right after school, as the older students do.

There are no plans at this time to use the gym for games for the high school teams. One reason, Sullens said, is the lack of parking around the school.

“Parking is an issue,” he said. “We’re working on that.”

Belle Alexander was built in the mid-1950s, at about the same time as the current Kewanee High School. The two schools share similar architectural designs inside and out.

Originally the school had a stage, and a large room which doubled as a sort of auditorium and a basketball court. Several years ago, the stage was converted to space for the school’s English as a second language program; the auditorium is now used for the Lu system and other activities.

Starting out as a school for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, Belle was one of several neighborhood schools in the Kewanee system.

A few years ago, the district switched to a system where all of the pupils went to schools for their grade level. Belle was chosen for the kindergarten and first-grade kids.

Sullens pointed out that Belle Alexander School opened about 67 years ago. With the recent additions, he said, he hopes the school can be around for at least another 67 years.

**This copy was updated to include financial figures for the project.