Back in February of 2021, Texas froze over for a few days leaving residents of the state without power, electricity, running water, and much more! As the state began to thaw out and water started running through the pipes again, thousands of peoples pipes burst causing all kinds of damage. This is the exact scenario that played out at Tool Elementary in the Malakoff Independent School District located in a small town about an hour southeast of Dallas, Texas.
“During what we call ‘Snowmageden’ it actually flooded,” said Principal Brandy Sutton during an interview with KLTV News. “We had three different points in the school that some pipes burst, which resulted in a large portion of the school being flooded including the library. We were able to save every book, but all the shelving, tables, and chairs were completely destroyed.”
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The photos show the water damage apparent on the floor following the pipes bursting at Tool Elementary. The pipes bursting were a result of the snowstorm that swept across the state of Texas in February of 2021. |
Tool Elementary was recently built in 2006, but in a very traditional manner. After considering the new innovative trends that are defining a 21st century library today, Principal Sutton saw these unfortunate events as an opportunity to provide a new, welcoming space that encourages collaboration and exploration amongst the schools students.
“We’ve had to reach out to different vendors, and we were so excited to work with Kay-Twelve and be able to order the most innovative flexible seating, new age furniture for this library and create an environment and a space that every kid can love,” Sutton said.
Now that the furniture has been put into place, the next step Tool Elementary will be taking is investing in multimedia gear such as iPads and virtual reality headsets that can be used in the brand new library. But for now, students are enjoying their new space to learn and grow as the school moves past the storms that helped make this project a reality.
“It’s nice to have a library that we can just come and just hang out in,” Lainey said. “It’s nice that we can just sit down in and it’s not just all brown.”
The Design of Tool Elementary School
Once the administration team at Tool Elementary knew the extent of the damages within the school, the team worked hard to creating innovative solutions that would be beneficial to the students long-term. While envisioning the spaces, high-quality renderings were created to help the Malakoff ISD see exactly what they were going to be getting with the solutions that Principal Brandi Sutton had in mind.
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Moving into 2023, the Malakoff Independent School District will be opening up a new high school in the community! Tool Elementary was able to help set the tone and the vision for the school just a year before the district opens up its six campus.
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To learn more about Kay-Twelve's involvement in the renovation of Tool Elementary School, schedule a free collaboration session with the local Educational Design Specialist!
