New Trailside Elementary School in Cedar Rapids nears completion, CRCSD gives tour

A new elementary school is being built in Northeast Cedar Rapids, while both Arthur and Garfield Elementary buildings will close at the end of the school year.

On Friday, the school district gave us a glimpse of the progress on the construction of Trailside Elementary at 2630 B Ave. NE as staff members from Arthur and Garfield Elementary Schools took a tour of the new school building for the first time before it opens this fall.

Many teachers could be seen smiling ear to ear as they got a first look at the new space they’ll soon be working in with their students.

“Their excitement, you could definitely just feel it beaming off of them, they're giggling and I saw one one staff member who started crying when she saw her space and said, 'I could live here.' And I think she probably could live there, she just loves it and that was the art teacher. So I saw a lot of just energy positive energy from all the staff, so I think that's amazing,” future principal of Trailside Jennifer Nurre said.

Each grade level will have their own collaboration space and four class rooms apiece.

District officials say they wanted to put a focus on the media center at Trailside because that was a major focal point for Garfield and Arthur Elementary Schools.

Another positive for staff members is the increase in capacity.

The gymnasium can hold multiple classes at a time and the cafeteria can sit around 600 students.

School officials say it's been more than 20 years since a new school has been built in Cedar Rapids.

Now that Trailside is in the finishing stages, students, parents, and staff are ready for the upgrade.

"Parents that are gonna attend Trailside will be parents of those kiddos that were already at Arthur and Garfield they will be contacted by those administrators from those buildings to let them know kind of the process that's gonna happen," Cedar Rapids Community School District Director of Operations Chad Schumacher said.

School district officials say Trailside Elementary is expected to be completed around the middle of July, just in time for the new school year.