VAIL, AZ (Tucson News Now)- Steel beams and metal framework show the shape of Esmond Station K-8 in the Vail Unified School District right now.  The school will open in a year off of Mary Ann Cleveland on the far southeast side, and be able to accommodate about 500 students.

"Critical thinking skills for children, let their creativity flow instead of the traditional direct instruction," principal Jerry Wood said about the way students will learn at the school.  "You get to make quite a few decisions on what's going into the place and you get to see it go from the ground up."

The school also links Vail's past to the students' futures.  An 1880's rail bed can be seen crossing the grounds, and a railroad foreman's house has been moved to the campus.  That house will provide a place for students not only to learn about the past but for high school students to learn carpentry.