East End School to Open on Friday
New elementary facility will feature a live green roof.

Local city and school officials will gather with parents and students for the opening of the new East End Community School (195 North Street) on Friday, May 12, 2 p.m. The ceremony and ribbon-cutting will take place in the gymnasium at the school.

The $12 million project began in November of 2004, and will besubstantially completed this month. The school includes 24 general-purpose classrooms, 6 exploration rooms, dedicated art and music classrooms, community meeting rooms and a family resource room. The new East End School will welcome 425 Portland students in September of this year.

The new school is a registered LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) Project and will include a "green roof" that is currently being grown in Ontario, Canada. The 1,800 square footgreen roof will be comprised of a drought-resistant plant called Sedum -requiring low maintenance and possessing natural cooling capabilities.Funding for the green roof was made possible by a grant from the CascoBay Estuary Partnership.

The new school also received 20 new photovoltaic (PV panels) that will allow the building to produce approximately 3.2 kilowatt hours ofelectricity. These panels should be installed later this summer.

Students from Adams School in Portland have worked closely with TV3(Portland's educational access station) to document the building of thenew East End Community School. The video includes interviews with thefirst graduating class at the old Jack Elementary School from 1946, thegroundbreaking ceremony for the new East End School in October of 2004,and interviews with the project managers and architects of the new school. The public will be able to view the video during the opening event. Staff will be available at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12 to conduct tours of the building with local media.