School Information

  • BUILDING

    W. D. Richards Elementary School

    3311 Fairlawn Drive

    Columbus, IN

     

    Hours of Operations

    Student Arrival- 7:50-8:10 a.m.
    Morning Tardy Bell- 8:10 a.m.
    Morning Breakfast- 7:45 a.m.
    Dismissal- 2:40 p.m.
     

    About Our School

    Our motto: Big Dreams + Hard Work = Success!

    Number of students at our school: 555

    School Colors: Blue & White

    Mascot: Raiders

     

    About Our Building

    Like most of our elementary schools, this was named for a beloved local educator. William Dalbert Richards (1884-1957) was a native of Bartholomew County and a teacher and principal in Columbus Elementary schools for 45 years. Design fees for the building were provided by the Cummins Foundation Architectural Program. Richards features a distinctive roofline of bold slopes forming a saw-toothed silhouette meant to be reminiscent of the factories of our industrial heritage.

    The playground area behind the school featured a sculpture entitled “Horses” by Constantino Nivola. The sculpture, which was donated by Mr and Mrs J. Irwin Miller, consisted of 12 stylized black, brown, and white miniature fiberglass horses surrounding an ash tree, like a merry-go-round. Unfortunately they did not hold up well and eventually had to be removed.