The current Bingham Elementary School building at Barnes and Cherry in Springfield will close forever at the end of the school year. Crews will tear the 1950s-era school down, and a new one – funded by Proposition S -- will be built on the site.
The school district is inviting the public to a community open house Monday night, April 27, ahead of demolition.
Adam Meador has been principal of Bingham for 17 years. He said they’ve run out of space.
"We are the largest by number of teachers — elementary school — in Springfield, second largest by number of students," he said. "So, we have 21 classroom teachers and then we have 420 students, so we're packed to the gills."
He said the new school will give them a dedicated gymnasium. Currently, they only have a cafeteria that serves as both a place to eat and have gym class, which limits their P.E. schedule. The new gym will allow them to once again hold all-school assemblies. They’ll have what he said will be a beautiful new library, classroom learning spaces and workrooms for teachers. And they’ll be able to expand services like Big Brother/Big Sister’s lunch buddy program. They’ll also be able to hold grandparents’ day again. Due to lack of space, he said, they haven’t held it for 15 years. Bingham's mascot is the bluejays, and there will be bird-themed lights and birdhouse-themed reading nooks in the library, according to Meador.
Meador said they plan to include George Caleb Bingham murals in some areas, like the community space and art room. That's who the school is named for.
Bingham staff have been preparing the students to say good-bye to their building and look forward to the new one. And they're getting them and their families ready to move to a new school — the old Jarrett Middle School building — for the next two school years.
He said the community open house will give people a chance to reminisce.
"We have generations of families that attended the school, and we want to give them a last chance to walk through and relive some memories," said Meador. "We're going to have yearbooks out, all the yearbooks that we have, we're going to have those out as well as we've had some committee members bring in yearbooks so that people can review those, and then some former principals have brought in their photo albums as well. So just a chance to relive before it's before it's gone."
Meador knows of several teachers who have retired or moved to different schools who plan to attend. Bingham's night custodian attended the school for kindergarten, and Meador said the man still remembers his teacher fondly.
"So, I look forward to opportunities like that where people can connect with people they haven't seen for years and even former students and former teachers connect and make connections to where they, you know, they had that strong relationship but then maybe, as time as passed, they've lost that," he said, "and hearing great stories."
The open house will be Monday night from 5:30 to 7 at Bingham Elementary, 2126 E. Cherry.
Anyone who has photos of school events, classes or school activities from the past that they would like to share may send them to lrobertson@spsmail.org.
