Prairie Trails
Throuhout 2020 and 2021, the district completed a remodeling of the district's Early Learning Center, now called Prairie Trails School. Prairie Trails will house all of the district's pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. The building will has space for 10 kindergarten classrooms and four pre-kindergarten classrooms, space for music and art, and a "natural" playground, allowing teachers to incorporate the outdoors into their curriculum.
The renovated building is a "Net Zero Energy" building, which means that it will be generating all the electricity required to run the building by using solar panels installed on the roof, as well as other energy savings design elements. To help pay for the renovation, the district was awarded a Net Zero Energy Grant of up to $2,000,000.
River Trails School District 26 is leading the way as a sustainable school district with the renovation of Prairie Trails School. The sustainability features include:
- A permeable paver parking lot
- A natural playground
- Solar panels for net zero energy usage
- Passive House Institute US certification for high energy efficiency