Interior construction projects are set to take place at South over the summer to maximize classroom space as a result of the transition to the block schedule and growing enrollment, according to Principal Dr. Brian Wegley.
Computer labs are going to be converted into classrooms and programs like Peer Group and Project Lead the Way will have their spaces within the building expanded, according to Wegley. This will allow South to maximize capacity and prevent student opportunities from being affected with more classes offered and more students being taught next year.
“The reality is, you never want to utilize 100 percent of your building’s capacity,” Wegley said. “The higher you get [with percentage used], the more restricted your schedule becomes. If I want to put a class during the third block because that’s best for students, but I don’t have the room available when I need it, that restricts what we can offer.”
Three labs, the Social Studies lab, the Writing lab and the Writing lab annex, all located upstairs in the Old Pit, are going to be converted into classroom space. Wegley said, with the expansion of laptops in the building, places with desktop computers aren’t always necessary in comparison to classes.
“Computer labs [certainly] are valuable to us, but with every student having a Chromebook, we know we can do a lot of that keyboarding in class,” Wegley said. “A higher priority for [the school] is having classrooms that we can serve our students with.”
Gary Freund, associate principal for administrative services, said that classrooms from the computer labs do not have a department designation, as the administration is currently refiguring which classrooms in the building belong to each department.
“All the classrooms will be reconfigured a little bit, as far as ‘this is a world language classroom’…,” Freund said. “We’re shifting into the new pit because of a lack of space over [in the old pit].”
The Peer Group program will have its own classrooms next year. Currently, Peer Group has one classroom and uses English and Consumer & Family Science rooms that aren’t being used during lunch periods to house its freshmen groups.
“We are trying to be as efficient as we can with space so there [are] four classrooms down in the Old Pit that we’ll have a wall put in the middle of them and another door put in that will create, out of four classrooms, eight smaller Peer Group rooms,” Wegley said. “That’s just to maximize the opportunity that our students will have to take Peer Group.”
Wegley also believes, with the increased classroom space and switch to Peer Group running all eight blocks, that the program will be able to help more kids.
“I think right now we serve about 45 percent of our freshmen in Peer Group and that’s at a one-semester crack where you either take it first semester or second; a few take both but most choose between the two,” Wegley said. “We know we can, with eight blocks running per day, serve upwards of 90 percent of our freshmen all year long. That is a huge advantage for us.”
Project Lead the Way is also expanding, as covered in issue five of the Oracle, adding an additional classroom and production lab to the current single classroom and lab which will allow the program to grow, according to Freund.
“We’re excited because then the curriculum can really come to life because the facilities will help that, which is wonderful,” Freund said.
Wegley believes that there is potential for the Project Lead the Way space to continue expanding as more students take the course.
“It’s a beautiful facility and as we continue to increase in enrollment and interest in these courses, we might even need another one, but we’re going to build what we need right now and watch it progress,” Wegley said.
Other interior construction projects include adding more office and desk space to the Guidance, World Language and Special Education Departments. All of these changes are the result of enrollment according to Freund, who believes it is essential to maximize the space South has.
“[The construction projects] all are because of enrollment,” Freund said. “[With] Guidance, the office space is because of enrollment, and we have more students so we need more teachers and counselors and social workers. Same thing with the office space […], the Peer Group rooms and the computer classrooms; we wouldn’t be doing this if the enrollment wasn’t going up but [it is], so we need to do these things so that the facility is ready. […] That’s why we’re maximizing the space that we have.”
