RED HOUSE, West Virginia -
Learning has taken on a new meaning at Confidence Elementary. Students, faculty and staff moved from a building that's more than 60 years old last year to a modern up-to-date facility this year. Principal Colleen Huston says there's one key difference.
"We have space for everything. No one is in the hallway being tutored. We just have space for everything," said Huston.
Students even notice the roominess of their new school.
"It's really big and the other one was really small," said Emily Jones, a fifth grader.
"We have more bathrooms and it's a lot bigger. We ain't all crammed together. We actually have more room," said Dakota Fisher, a fifth grader.
Adding to the new school year is a new award. Confidence Elementary is one of three schools in West Virginia to be named a National Blue Ribbon School.
The award is based on student academic achievement. What makes it so remarkable is students achieved the mark in the outdated and over-crowded conditions at their old school. It's a building that was built in the 1940s.
"We'd do it if we were in a tent. It's just education comes first no matter where you are," said Huston.
Besides more space, the new school has a science lab and enough computers for an entire class, among other things.
"The playground is a lot better here. There's that spinning thing that's like a diamond thing," said Cameron Jones, a second grader.
In November Huston travels to Washington, D.C., to accept the National Blue Ribbon School Award.
Besides Buffalo High School and Confidence Elementary, a new Poca and Winfield Middle School are also under construction but are not yet finished. The money to build the new schools is from the Bond Referendum passed by Putnam County voters in August 2009.
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