Security & a Fresh Look at Oak View Elementary to Start New School Year

Safety and appearance.

Those were the two primary objectives behind an all-summer makeover to the entryway at Valley View School District’s Oak View Elementary School, according to principal Bob Pinciak.

He said Valley View district employees worked with outside crews to tear down old concrete walls, install a new glass partition and create new conference and office spaces for staff personnel at the school.

“We really brightened up the front area—it was so dark before,” Pinciak said. “When you’re working with kids and you have people coming in and out of the office all day, you want a bright and cheery space.”

He said it’s the first time work has been done to the front office/entryway space at the school since the building caught fire in 1980.

Visitors to Oak View now will have to navigate their way through two sets of buzzer/doorbells to enter the school building, a safety measure many school officials and school districts are moving toward in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

“No. 1, first and foremost, we want to know exactly who is in the building,” Pinciak said. “No. 2, if something unfortunate did happen, we’ve created a couple ways to stop someone from entering the building.”

He said work began a couple days after the 2012-13 school year ended and that Oak View officials were able to move back in their offices during the first week of August. Classes resumed on Aug. 16.