On a sunny in-service day, faculty members roamed the FASD campus, wearing red shirts that read “bringing our community together.” The morning of Sept. 1, 2015, teachers and staff from the elementary, middle and high school levels cut a red ribbon in front of the newly-built Freedom Area Elementary School (FAES), marking the substantial completion of the building as well as the first step to make FASD a transformed campus.

The 2016-2017 school year marks the second year that FAES will be open. Prior to this, Big Knob and Conway Elementary, Freedom’s former elementary schools that were facing structural and water problems, were shut down. Currently, Big Knob is “mothballed” and Conway still has electricity, heating and water and was recently cleaned after the building was vandalised this past fall, according to Superintendent Jeffrey Fuller. While the district has been approached with offers for both buildings, a decision has yet to be made.

As a result of closing Big Knob and Conway, the students, staff and resources from those former schools consolidated into FAES last September. Now, one year later, the effects of creating one bigger elementary school are starting to show.

The most notable effect of FAES is consistency. According to FAES Principal Rich Edder, who was also the principal of Big Knob and Conway, the ability for all teachers of the same grade level to meet and discuss ideas face to face has improved consistency “on all fronts.”

FAES is also using a guided reading program, allowing students to read at their own instructional level, according to Edder, and Envision 2.0, a math curriculum from Pearson Education, Inc. The math program requires more reading and analyzing in order to solve a problem.

After school, the elementary school hosts a Title 1 tutoring program and robotics program led by fourth grade teacher John Capehart—both of which are new to this school year—as well as a basketball program.

From the academic side, it’s too soon to tell how the consolidation of elementary staff and resources will impact academics. According to Edder, the true impact of these program changes will not be clear until two to four years have passed since the program was implemented.

Although the true extent of how these programs will affect academic achievement will not be known for a while, Fuller said that the “achievement gap,” or the standardized assessment score difference between students, is decreasing. This is because fewer students are testing in the “below basic” category in all standardized tests.

Concerning parties and events, the PTAs from Big Knob and Conway combined when Freedom Elementary opened. The Freedom Elementary PTA is responsible for class parties, the Olympics, Santa Shop, science fair, book fairs, talent show and similar events. According to President Twila DeThomas, who was also the President of Big Knob’s PTA, while the consolidation of the two former associations was “a learning curve,” this year has been smoother. DeThomas also added that space for these events has been the PTA’s biggest issue.

“While Mr. Edder and Dr. Fuller have helped out greatly, we’ve had to change around some things to accommodate the size of the student body for these events,” DeThomas said.

Having all of the students on one campus has allowed for students in different buildings to communicate with each other. For example, in Freedom’s Big Brothers Big Sisters, FHS students meet weekly with their “littles” at the elementary school, where they assist their elementary mentees with homework and take part in an activity.

“That has been a fantastic addition to our elementary program. I can’t say enough about how well those high school kids interact with our kids,” Edder said. “The kids really look forward to that day.”

Additionally, the class of 2016 was the first class to participate in the “Graduation Walk,” where graduating seniors walked through their district’s elementary and middle schools while in their caps and gowns last June. With the convenient elementary and middle school layout, in addition to the short distance between buildings on the FASD campus, this Graduation Walk was the first event of its kind at Freedom.

“It was fabulous. Because they were the first ones, they didn’t know what to expect,” Edder said. “They couldn’t believe that everybody in the whole building stopped what they were doing, and they were clapping. It’s a neat thing.” Edder also expressed excitement for the class of 2017 to take part in the Graduation Walk at the end of the school year.

Being on one campus has also allowed for the community to come to FASD, especially during homecoming. For the past two years, FASD has been the main location of the Homecoming Festival, a two-day event that includes a 5K race, vendor booths and a parade before the football game.

These initial effects of having FASD on one campus also show the potential for the campus to become a community hub. While Conway and New Sewickley both have recreation committees that plan movies and events for children and the community, Freedom borough does not, leaving FAES as the main location for activities for children during the week.

Conway, Freedom and New Sewickley have recreation committees that plan community events, like holiday parties and movie nights. For Freedom specifically, Sydney Kaercher, who was recently named chairwoman of the Recreation/Activities Committee, has been planning more community events for people to “have a reason to be here. These events, most of which are held during holidays or over the summer, leave FAES as the main location for children’s activities during school days.

Despite the closings of Big Knob and Conway Elementary, the moving of students to the FASD campus has left little impact on Conway and New Sewickley. Amber Tavern, a Conway resident and president of the Conway Recreation Committee, said that the closing of Conway Elementary didn’t seem to change day-to-day life; however, community has missed the annual Halloween parade. While Conway Elementary was open, students would walk in the Halloween parade dressed in their costumes past Conway Towers, a senior housing facility.

“The [Conway] Recreation Committee has tried to replace the event, but turnout is still small,” Tavern said regarding the former Halloween parade.

Looking ahead to the future, Fuller said that the district is open to ideas to host events at the FAES.

“We wanted the campus to become sort of the hub of the community, and it’s becoming that,” Fuller said.