Sig School celebrates opening of newly renovated arts and science center
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Community members crowded around the Robert L. Koch II Science Center’s doors as Jean Hitchcock, Signature School executive director, and others celebrated the school's newest expansion.
On Monday, Sig School welcomed spectators to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the newly renovated arts and sciences center. During the event, Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, Bob Koch — the building's namesake and chairman of Koch Enterprises, Hitchcock and others addressed the facility's new features and the importance of its construction
“This is a huge moment in Signature School history," Hitchcock said. "The opening of the Koch Center has enabled us to advance our already outstanding program, offering more spots to students while keeping our sense of community."
With the school's latest project, Sig School now houses a commons area where students and faculty can gather, with additional classrooms, a faculty workroom and a few administrative offices on the top floor. The school also renovated the other side of the center.
The additions to the facility were made through a $2.5 million grant awarded by the Southwest Indiana Regional Cities Initiative by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC).
The construction was part of phase II of Signature’s Regional Cities funding.
In 2015, Southwestern Indiana received nearly $42 million in funding from Regional Cities, a state program that works to improve quality of place and boost the state’s population. The money was doled out to fund 12 projects across Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey and Gibson counties.
And of those 12 area projects, Signature was selected to receive $2.5 million to build onto the science center and create a new biology lab as phase I of the project.
Hitchcock said the completion of phase II will set a new change of pace for the charter school.
Before the expansion of the Koch Center, Hitchcock said the school had issues with classroom spaces with educators often having to teach in the same rooms they held lunch break. After eating their meals, students were forced to wipe their tables off and use them as classroom desks.
Those days are over, she said.
"We've been living in limbo," Hitchcock said, "so we're excited about having all those classes under one roof."
Greg Wathen, president of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, said the renovations will allow the charter school to add more students.
"We know there's a lottery process," Wathen said. "But the reality is that Signature School didn't have enough space to add more students, and now this will allow them to accommodate more students and hopefully get away from the waiting list."
Hitchcock said the school will look to increases its student-count to 400 — there were 365 students in 2018.
Wathen said the efforts of his organization to aid the Koch Center's development was due to the prestige of the charter school. Sig School was the first public charter school in the state and is considered one of the most challenging high schools in the country. And with the school's latest construction, he believes it will further expand the Evansville area.
"We knew this was an incredibly important asset, and the whole idea is to attract and retain talent," Wathen said. "A lot of individuals want to come into the market because they love to get access to their children coming into Signature School."