HONOLULU - Ewa Elementary dedicated a new building earlier today before hundreds of students, teachers, parents and community members.  The new one-story building provides three kindergarten classrooms, three first grade classrooms and one special education classroom, along with a technology lab, a faculty center and a conference room. 

"Kindergarten and first grade learning are critical for our students to become engaged, lifelong learners," said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.  "The new classrooms and technology help our students to become complex thinkers and effective communicators, giving them an edge in their future learning."

Each new classroom includes wall-mounted projectors and sliding whiteboards, along with three smaller instructional rooms shared between them.  A mixed-mode split air conditioning system was used which will allow teachers to manually activate or deactivate cooling in their individual classrooms as an energy saving measure.

"The first years of learning really mold students' thinking processes, creativity and attitudes toward school and we want to keep that creativity strong past the first years of learning," said Complex Area Superintendent Heidi Armstrong.  "The technology, comfort and 21st century learning is placed in a building that reflects the traditional Ewa community style."

Construction of the new 13,000 square-foot building began in March 2015 at an approximate cost of $6 million.  Also included in the construction were walkways, a fire access road, utilities, drainage, irrigation, landscaping and a trash enclosure.