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The art room.

More than 320 students are registered to begin the school year at Thompson School District’s newest school, Ponderosa Elementary.

Located on the corner of Florence and Kinkaid Drives in northwest Loveland, the school incorporates the areas geology in its structure and global learning in its curriculum.

The design by Grody Bennett & Wagner Architects is similar to Coyote Ridge Elementary, which opened in 2008, but it is larger and enhanced. Ponderosa will be a four-round school, pre-k through 5th grade and will hold 550 students, says Lamb Caro, principal of the school. Early Childhood preschool classes will also be held there.

Earth tones, varying elevations, multi color bricks and corrugated panels provide a multidimensional vision that blends in and stands out at the same time with the rise of the Devil’s Backbone to the west. While it stands out from Wilson Avenue, it also settles into its surrounding neighborhoods.

The geologic theme is evidenced in the swirling brick design at the entrance of the building, which represents an anticline, which is an arch of stratified rock in which the layers bend downward in opposite directions from the crest.

Ponderosa Elementary School viewed from the east toward the foothills.

Once inside the building, the ceilings have a tilt to them as though they were floating upward, to mimic the motion of the earth being pushed upward. Classroom area entryways also have pitched ceilings to replicate plates pushing up. And the carpet tiles and vinyl flooring are patterned to represent the earth’s layers flipping. The carpet pattern in the media center also reflects plate tectonics with a shifting pattern.

Principal Lamb Caro has worked closely with the architects to ensure the school fits its place in west Loveland. Multiple beige/brown/gray bricks contrasting with deep-red and gray textured corrugated panels and plenty of windows in the multi-level building provide it depth and dimension.

The school also includes some green features, including sun shades, specialty windows that reflect light into the room, efficiency lighting and more. One extra space is a book storage room.

Color splashes of reds and bright-greens accent the interior of the school and the flooring continues the multiple-texture theme with a combination of carpet tiles and tan vinyl tiling. Jennifer Koeppe from Bennett Grody & Wagner says that the colors may seem a bit sophisticated for children, but the schools needs to stand the test of time. When designing a building, she says the goal is to have a human scale—in this case, the humans are children. “We try to keep to that scale so the kids don’t feel so overwhelmed, she says. All of the elevations and various dimensions took this into consideration so the school doesn’t look too large.

Grades k-3 will be on the first floor of the building, along with learning-service rooms for special-needs students, a large art room and a computer room with 30 stations. Small offices are also provided for counselors and teachers/staff who work at multiple schools. 

The second floor will contain 4th and 5th grade classrooms. The school will have a music room that can open up into the auditorium.

Ponderosa will be a school of global learning, focusing on the new standards-based curricula with a multicultural lens, Caro says. Areas such as environmental health, governments and politics, service learning, critical thinking, world languages, experiential learning, technology and communication as well as character education will define the school. Caro says, the school is about inquiry and building the skills to know where to search, ask questions and find correct information.

An open house is planned in July and a Back to School Night barbecue is scheduled for Aug. 24., 6-8:30 p.m.  

The 70,000 square-foot school, built by Golden Triangle Construction has a projected cost of $15 million.