Students Around The District React To ‘Extreme Classroom Makeovers’

MONROE COUNTY, Fla. – Three elementary school classrooms in the district have settled into their ‘Extreme Classroom Library Makeovers’ this week. One classroom each from Key Largo School, Stanley Switlik Elementary School, and Sugarloaf School received the makeovers through votes from literacy coaches and media specialists throughout the county.

The district’s Teaching and Learning team picked one winner from each category for grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. They chose the winners from 40 applications of nominated teachers and teachers interested in receiving the makeover for their classrooms. Kyla Perry from KLS took the K-1st grade category, Angi White from SSE took the 2nd-3rd grade category, and Melissa Meier from SLS took the 4th-5th grade category. Thanks to MCSD’s Reading and Language Arts Coordinator, Sarah Ann Morton, the classrooms were equipped with more than 500 books, materials to make shelves, and comfortable seating. Marathon Home Depot, the United Way, Scholastic, and Lakeshore Learning were among the community partners to donate their time and these resources.

The project took the week of Spring Break to complete. This included a fresh coat of paint for the classroom at Stanley Switlik Elementary, and building a new set of bookshelves for the classroom libraries. District Literacy officials chose to conduct the contest to raise awareness for the need for creating engaging library spaces in classrooms around the county. Morton said the project was a task to complete, but the looks on the faces of the students as they saw the spaces for the first time, were priceless. She said, the idea has been so well received, the prekindergarten classrooms and all of the pre-k students throughout the district will also get new books and organization for their libraries.

The Monroe County School District serves approximately 8,800 students throughout the upper, middle, lower keys, and Key West. The accredited school district consists of ten public schools, six charter schools, and alternative and virtual schools. To take a look at transformation of the spaces and the student’s reactions, please visit the Monroe County School District’ s Facebook page .

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