 Construction for a new special education school is underway in Wadena, but the new building isn't only going to be serving Wadena students. Our Anthony Scott has more. Talked away in a corner off Route 71 in Wadena is a construction crew laying the groundwork for a new special education building. The new building is part of the Freshwater Education District, a special education co-op in the Wadena area, and it will serve the Level 4 students. There are different levels of special education and Level 4, it's been determined that they need to be completely separate from the general education population. Currently Freshwater's Level 4 building is a school that is no longer in use in Deer Creek and Freshwater is excited to have a building of their own. But knowing that we've got a building that was created just for their specific needs is really going to help them succeed. Once construction on this 30,000 square foot building is complete, it will not only serve students from Wadena County, but also 13 other school districts in the area. Freshwater serves students from Monaga to Long Prairie and from Pillager to Frizy, and the classes still remain small. We've got 36 students total and we have 22 staff, so we can really provide that intensive support that they need. It's a multi-million dollar project financially headed by Sourcewell, who committed five million dollars to the project. One of our main tasks is to help our school districts in general and absolutely our special education districts as well in investing in great ideas, great initiatives they have, because as I mentioned that spills over into quality of life in our region and also training and retaining the best workforce that we can. The new building will have several amenities to fit the children's sensory needs. We have dimming lights as well as horizontal windows in the classrooms that allow for natural light without the distraction of what's going on outside. We've got separate workspaces for students within the classrooms, so if they are overwhelmed, they can work in those areas, but not be removed from the classroom, so they're still a part of what's going on. The goal of Freshwater is to get the students back on track so they can one day rejoin their general education program. I think this is a growing need. There are a number of programs like ours around the state, but it's becoming more of a need and so we really need to focus on these types of programs to help student learners. Reporting from Wadena, Anthony Scott, Lakeland News. The new building is scheduled to be ready for students in 2019. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.