Parent Elizabeth Linder said she felt little apprehension when she let go of her daughter’s hand to start her first day of kindergarten at Central Elementary School nearly 10 years ago.
Linder felt assured since she knew Central was steeped in history. Built in 1878, Central was the first school in Longmont and is designated an historic landmark, according to the school’s website. She also knew the school emphasizes a rigorous curriculum, engaging even the youngest students in a global educational experience.
“We toured all the elementary schools in Longmont at the time, and this one (Central) was the oldest one but we kind of fell in love with it,” Linder said, adding her two other daughters also attend Central.
Despite Central’s age “there is a certain vibrancy to the school,” Linder said. “The staff, administration, the other students, they make you feel at home.”
“It’s not a cookie cutter school, it has its own personality,” she said.
Central is entering its 143rd fall with those same down-home qualities that attracts families, say Linder and school officials. There are changes afoot, including a new principal and alterations to its interior that are concessions to a modern, and sometimes, dangerous world.
Luann Tallman is Central’s new principal. After a 38-year-career at Aurora and Denver Public Schools respectively, Tallman wanted to go to a school that appealed to her small-town Iowa roots.
“Denver was just getting too big and I wanted a school where the people were close knit and kind,” Tallman said. “Friends told me about Central and said it was just the right place for me. I looked at the school and they were right.”
Tallman was wowed by the parental involvement that keeps the school in top shape and a focus of the downtown Longmont community. She especially enjoyed an ice cream social on the school’s playground over the summer that drew over 300 people.
“It’s a community that looks out for each child’s social and emotional growth,” Tallman said.
She also is aware of Central’s historic significance. “Everything done to this school is done with extra love and care,” Tallman said.
Proposed exterior alterations to the school were the recent focus of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. Because of its status as an historic landmark, almost all changes to the outside of the building must receive a “Certificate of Appropriateness” from the commission, say school and city officials.
The body, in early August, approved a new door at the south elevation to the school along Fourth Avenue. The new door will go on the newest Central School addition which was completed in 2000, according to a city staff report.
The historic commission also approved replacing the lighting at the school, including wall sconces and pedestrian poles, the staff report states.
Crews later this year will make safety and security improvements at Central as part of the 2016 $260 million bond issue, said St. Vrain Valley School District spokeswoman Kerri McDermid.
Crews will relocate the administration offices from the interior of the building to the exterior, creating a new building entrance and administration area along Fourth Street, McDermid said.
“The new entrance will provide a more secure point of entry, controlling access to the rest of the building,” McDermid said.
The changes are welcome and means no one can enter the building without first being seen by administrators, Tallman said. “It just adds a new layer of protection for the students and staff. Unfortunately, something like this is needed these days.”
