I walked into the doors of the school located at the bottom of the hill, and was greeted with a tree. A tree, that I might add, had not been there seven years ago, when I last attended the school. I had been in DCES only a few times since my departure from fifth grade, and it was obvious that not everything was the same as it once had been when I, or any current high schooler for that matter, had attended there last.

Principal Bill Shidler met me in the DCES main office, and quickly invited me to his office down a short corridor. Robots and random parts decorated a table set up in the office as he asked me what he could do for me. I told him my goal: to see how DCES has changed since we high schoolers had been there, both physically and in the programs offered, and where it was headed for the future. A gleam started in his eyes as I spoke, and he replied to me with child-like fascination: “Why don’t I show you?”

The first things Mr. Shidler wanted to show off were the passion projects kids had been working on last year. “Some kids like board games, so they play board games,” he said pulling out bins containing supplies for each passion project. He pulled out various other “passion projects”—art supplies, coding supplies, “we even had some girls who wanted to start a ballet club.”

As we walked through the school, one change was apparent everywhere. “So, there are a bunch more colors everywhere,” said Mr. Shidler, leading me down the first grade hallway. “It’s a lot more enjoyable to work and go to school with all these colors brightening up the place.” The colors were everywhere—the doors, the walls, the bulletin boards—it was as if a rainbow of colors was plastered everywhere  In the late 2000s and early 2010s, when many current DCHS students attended DCES, it seemed as if the school was much more neutral in color. Within the past few years, the school has experienced a complete shift in the decor and environment that students are studying in.

Strolling past the library, I took a glance inside. “How much has changed in there?” I asked. Mr. Shidler gave me a grin, and we walked in. On the surface, not much had changed, though the bookshelves seemed much shorter. But, as Mr. Shidler led me deeper into the library, I saw that the area had evolved beyond just books. “We have tons of things to keep kids engaged,” he told me. “The LEGO wall is one of my favorites.” We walked in to where the LEGO wall was, and a class was in there, sitting on beanbags, futons, and other comfortable chairs. “We are very technology based in how we’re teaching our kids,” Mr. Shidler later told me. “But that still doesn’t mean that we aren’t getting them into books and other traditional sources of learning.”