Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part series about Olson School, which the district plans to revive in the 2012-13 school year. Read the second part here.

For one decade, the building at 1751 Kelly Drive was a thriving elementary school and the pride of its surrounding Golden Valley neighborhood.

Sigurd Olson Elementary School opened for the 1971-72 school year. In January 1980, the Robbinsdale Area School Board voted to close it.

For years, the building has been an on-again, off-again home to various school and community programs. Recently, it was used as a temporary school when other active Robbinsdale schools were under renovation.

But now the building will once again become an elementary school. On Monday night, the school board unanimously approved the creation of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) elementary magnet school to open beginning with the 2012-13 school year.

City Council Member DeDe Scanlon lives in the Olson neighborhood, and over the last few months has sent numerous letters to school board members, urging them to bring STEAM to Olson.

Her son attended a Spanish immersion school, and Scanlon said her other children might have attended Olson had it not closed.  Scanlon said when the school closed, the neighborhood, and the city, lost some of its identity.

"Olson has brought such a sense of sadness for all these years," Scanlon said. "Anyone who has an empty school in their neighborhood knows the feeling that something's missing. There's been this piece of the puzzle, of our community, missing for 30 years."

Then last November, a divestiture committee recommended that the district hold on to Olson, but it didn't give any recommendations for how the building should be used.

"A sub-committee worked from May 2010 to July 2011, investigating a range of magnet options like Spanish immersion and STEM," said Lori Simon, executive director of education services for the Robbinsdale Area Schools. "There was slightly more interest in STEM from families, and there were more qualified STEM teachers than Spanish teachers."

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and according to the district, is "a rigorous academic framework focusing on research and critical thinking." Simon said districts that have implemented this magnet program have generally found success in receiving state and federal grants.

But the district decided to take the program a step further.

"The district added the Arts (A) in STEAM to reflect its deep commitment to and recognition of the arts as a critical component of education," said Tia Clasen, district communications director, in a news release Tuesday. In a recent blog post for Patch, Clasen explained the value of adding the arts to the tradition core curriculum. "In this age of standardized testing and emphasis on math and science, we can't forget those who came before us, such as Leonardo daVinci, who bridged science and art," she wrote.

Simon said it would enhance a student's education, but it would also set their STEAM program apart from the various STEM programs in the area.

"Revenue generated through STEAM would also provide the district with opportunities for other programs and schools and for students at other schools in the district," she said.

Simon said federal grants for programs like STEAM can be in the neighborhood of over $100,000.

When Olson first opened, the school used an individual progress model, allowing students to move ahead at their own pace. It was a new concept at the time, just like STEAM is a relatively new concept now.

"The district has always been very innovative—language immersion, for example," Scanlon said. "To go into this program, it would be grand."

The district had considered both Olson and Pilgrim Lane in Plymouth, but Simon said Olson is nearly move-in ready, while Pilgrim Lane would need significant improvements before opening its doors.

Because STEAM is so new, the next step for the district is to further develop the STEAM model and to come up with an enrollment plan.

"In order for the model to be successful and financially feasible, we need to reserve a third of the seats for open enrollment," Simon said. "We're most likely looking at a lottery situation for the other two-thirds, but that will be determined later this month. We need to be sure the student body reflects the district's overall enrollment."

DeDe Scanlon said one of the challenges for Golden Valley has been uniting a community divided by highways and two school districts. She said the re-opening of Olson for the 2012-13 school year is one way the city will be able to come together.

"What an opportunity for Golden Valley. This is going to give life to our neighborhood and to our community. It will give us a better sense of self that's been missing for quite some time."