The Victoria Elementary School - one of 13 schools in District 112 - was built on a grand hill with a panorama of lakes, valleys, and wide open countryside.  Best views are from the lunchroom and playground.  Surely Recess will remain a favorite class.
On Sunday, September 18^th, District 112 sponsored a Community Open House and Dedication of Victoria Elementary School.  It was a gorgeous day of sunshine outdoors and good wishes indoors.
Dozens of people toured the new school, touched the new facilities, and tout-ed its amenities.  It is the only elementary school in Victoria, which has a population of nearly 6,000 residents, most them young families with children.  It is the first elemen-tary school in Victoria since both public and parochial elementary schools closed in '71.

As Diane Koban said at the podium that sunny afternoon in the lunchroom with the great view, "I am an excited Victoria resi-dent.  Victoria has waited patiently.  The future, the memories, and the stories all begin now for these 501 students and the thousands to follow … It's a spectacular building and a dream come true."
Diane is the only School Board Member who is a resident of Victoria; she is running as a candidate for re-election this fall.  Voting in Victoria takes place on Tuesday, November 8^th, at City Hall on Rose Street.  [All school board candidates were featured and photographed in the recent September edition of the Gazette.  These profiles are located in the Front Page click at www.VictoriaGazette.com.]
Rod Franks, a school board candidate from Chanhassen, also spoke at the Dedica-tion.  "This is where kids will learn to know that we care and will care to learn what we know," he said.
Rod recognized and thanked Lundgren Brothers Construction for donating the school site, Rozeboom Miller Architects for school design, Bossardt Corporation for building it, and many past and present con-tributors including the City of Victoria.
Victoria City Councilmember Terry Bishop declared, "This is absolutely a spectacular site.  I'd like to go to school here … It's not that we learn from our mistakes; it's that we learn from our successes.  What happened here was a working together of Lundgren Brothers, School District 112, and the City of Victoria.  We have here the benefit of that working relationship … I'm excited that we have a school in Victoria.  It is good for the community.  We are very happy to have a school here."
Superintendent David Jennings recog-nized the presence of Carver County Com-missioner Gary Delaney, a resident of Vic-toria, and State Representative Paul Kohls, a resident of Victoria.  He spoke of partner-ships that make good things possible.  "We want this to be the first of many good days in Victoria," said Superintendent Jennings.
Nancy Wittman, first Principal of Victoria Elementary, used the lake metaphor throughout her presentation, explaining that the "awesome" view and location of school helped them designate spaces at the school.
Learning areas at Victoria Elementary are named after area lakes, including Zum-bra Community, Wasserman Community, Auburn Community, Stieger Community, Bavaria Community, and Minnewashta Community.  "So there you go!" she stated with a smile.
Although "Hawks" remains the mascot at District 112, the kids at this school will also be known as the Lakers.  "The Victoria Elementary Lakers have set sail!" she said.  "The school is off on its maiden voyage.  It's now full steam ahead.  We officially pulled away from the dock on Sept. 6^th."
Principal Wittman reminded people that groundbreaking of Victoria Elementary occurred in June of 2004.  [A feature story and photo profile of that historic day is in Sue's Album at www.VictoriaGazette.com as well as in the July, 2004, online edition of the Gazette in The Archives.]
"The Victoria community has wel-comed us every step of the way," she said.  "What a village we have here!"
She reported there are over 50 people working at Victoria Elementary, including 40 licensed teachers with 325 years of com-bined experience, plus over 300 parent volunteers.
The crowd of visitors and well-wishers enjoyed several student letters read by Prin-cipal Wittman.  One of the first graders was happy about the "automatic bathrooms."  Another youngster alluded to the previous long bus rides to schools outside of Victoria:  "Now I have more time to wake up and get ready for school."
One exuberant student wrote, "Victoria Elementary holds a place in my heart where I'm comfortable to be, and I get excited when our bus turns the corner in the morn-ing and I see the school."
Principal Wittman dedicated Victoria Elementary "to the students of today and students of the future."  She thanked several city and business partners and individuals who worked to make this day memorable, including the Fifth Grade Student Ambassa-dors who welcomed visitors at each learning cluster that afternoon.
Some of those ambassadors posed for this issue of the Gazette, along with others at the Dedication.  Turn the page to see that, indeed, Victoria Elementary School, a landmark among lakes, has set sail.
Thank you, teachers, staff, students, and board members of District 112 for everything good, including the cookies and apple juice.  And, as board member Diane Koban said, "Thank you, taxpayers."

Victoria Elementary joins a dozen other schools in District 112 including …
Bluff Creek Elementary, Chanhassen Elementary, Chaska Elementary,
East Union Elementary, Jonathan Elementary,
Clover Ridge Elementary, Chaska Middle School East, Chaska Middle School West,
Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center
Chaska High School,
Early Childhood Center, and Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative.

Go to Sue's Album and click on "Landmark Among Lakes"
for  a large display of photos from the Open House and Dedication of Victoria Elementary School.