High school students move to new building
Published 5:00 am Tuesday, August 15, 2006
West Lincoln Attendance Center teachers and volunteer students,who donated their study time, spent Friday moving into the newclassroom building on campus.
High school classes will open Friday in the building.
“It’s not only a day I’ve been waiting for, but the teachers andstudents as well,” said Principal Jason Case. “It’s the new homefor the high school.”
The nine classrooms will serve the more than 200 students ingrades nine through 12, he said.
“That’s a larger number than we’ve ever had in grades ninethrough 12,” he said.
It’s also the future home of the main office. Construction onthat office is not complete, but Case said that would pose nodifficulty to students in the classrooms.
“I’m very comfortable with it,” he said. “Right now, we’resharing classrooms. We have students in small areas and we neededto get in there.”
The office area will be sealed off from students until it can beoccupied, Case said. A deadline for the office move has not beenmade, but is simply waiting on technicalities, such as telephoneand intercom service.
Work will also continue to expand the cafeteria and add a careerdiscovery and home economics classroom to the building.
Those ongoing projects will also not effect students, he said.The students will continue to use cafeteria, but will use a newentry to avoid the construction areas.
A completion target date has not been set, he said.
“We’re shooting to be in there the beginning of January. That’smy goal,” Case said.
A fire that destroyed the Old Green Building on campus in fall2003, coupled with a projected increase in the number of studentsattending the school in upcoming years, prompted district officialsto begin the construction of the new high school and renovate thecafeteria, Case said.
“We have a large number of elementary students that will becoming to the high school,” he said.
At more than 200 high schools students this year, West Lincolnposted record numbers, but that number is expected to increase bymore than 40 students within the next four years.
Insurance financing from the Old Green Building helped fund theexpansion.