CAPE SCHOOLS NEAR READY FOR OPENING

Jefferson Elementary School Principal Mark Cook is an eternal optimist.

He looks out his office at boxes of uninstalled ceiling tiles and rolls of cable, watches electricians wiring lighting fixtures and plumbers making connections and says with certainty school will be ready to open on Aug. 31.

"I have never been nervous about this at all," Cook said, dodging workmen returning from lunch. "I'm so excited about the changes and the progress. This is so good for our schools."

But parents and others who have driven past the school this week wonder how the project can possibly be completed in a week's time.

It won't be done.

A new multipurpose room and cafeteria on the east side of the school won't be done. Likewise, new classroom space on the north side of the building won't be done. Both were scheduled for completion in January.

Construction of two new kindergarten classrooms, renovations inside the building including new windows, new lower ceilings and improved wiring should be done next week.

This week, progress on the renovation project has been dramatic, Cook said. Concrete has been poured, overhead lights hung and air-conditioning units installed.

Before students arrive a week from Monday, some electrical work must be completed. A small section of the new bus driveway must be poured, and all the desks, furniture and supplies need to be moved back into the classrooms.

"It's going to be great," Cook said. "We can tell a difference already with the new windows and insulation. The temperature, even without the air conditioning on, is 15 degrees cooler."

Cook plans to make the most of construction crews, which will be frequent visitors to the school this fall.

"A lot can be learned from that," he said. "Children will see what's happening. Teachers can have workers explain what they are doing. A lot of learning can take place."

At Central Junior High School, renovation work is closer to completion.

"I'm confident that Central Junior High School will be ready for our students and staff on August 31," said Principal Gerald Richards. "A lot of progress has been made in the last two weeks in readying the building."

The air-conditioning units in the school's classrooms were being tested Friday, and they should be operating Monday or Tuesday. Irregularities should be worked out by the end of the week, Richards said.

"The custodians have done a good job in the last two weeks of readying the building by scrubbing the floors and putting down a coat of wax and moving furniture back into the rooms over the last couple of days," he said. "We still have a lot of general cleaning of the grounds and of the building itself, but things are shaping up very nicely, and I'm very confident we'll be set and ready to go and anxious to see our students on the 31st."

Work has just started on a new bus drive on the north side of Alma Schrader Elementary School. That project is scheduled to be completed at the end of September.

A renovation project, similar to what took place at Jefferson this summer, is slated for Alma Schrader next summer.

Trinity Elementary School will open at 8 a.m. Wednesday for a full day of classes.

Trinity parents have expressed some confusion because of Cape Girardeau's delayed start of school.

Trinity follows Cape Girardeau's lead when calling off school for snow days or other inclement weather but won't wait on the construction projects to start school.