Project Update
The weather has been nice this week, so they have gotten a lot done. They are getting close to having the middle school section complete. If you've been by, you may have noticed some shorter walls on the southwest side of the structure. This is the art room on the lower level and the top level will be an outdoor learning space adjacent to our science classroom for the 7th and 8th students. Below is a drawing of the lower level of the new building to give you an idea of what is going where.
This is the middle school area only. The top of the drawing is North. The arrow in the bottom left corner pointing to the art room is the lower walls on the southwest corner of the new area. If the weather holds, they should be close to wrapping that area up early next week and start working on the gym. Here are a few interior pictures to show the progress on putting in the second floor.
These show some of the different spaces within the second floor of the new facility. You can see the floor panels are hollow core panels made of concrete. They will also pour an additional level of concrete on top to level everything out and give a good surface to adhere the final finish products to. The middle picture is looking out at the courtyard between the existing high school and the new building. Things are going nicely. If you're on Facebook, please check out and follow our page for the latest updates to the project and also to keep up on all the things going on in the district.
Project Based Learning
I wanted to share just a few thoughts on this. We have staff who are doing some awesome things with our students and providing outstanding learning experiences for them. Sometimes this learning looks very different from the learning that we had as students. We know a lot more about how students learn and also what's going to be expected of them after graduation. Students need to be able to think critically, work collaboratively, solve problems, communicate effectively, and demonstrate creativity. We also know when students work on something that's important to them they do a better job and learn more. Finally, if we can make learning active and hands on it will be more engaging to the student and the more engaged they are the better they learn. Knowing this, our teachers are working to bring more hands on activities to our students. In addition, they are asking the students to solve problems and work through challenges and come up with the answers on their own. For some students they just want the teacher to tell them what they need to know to get an "A" or whatever grade they want on the test. Unfortunately, that often leads to forgetting much of the information shortly after the test is taken. It also doesn't help them build grit and determination when facing a tough problem. Are teachers are becoming more "guides beside your student" instead of being the performer on the stage.This is new for teachers and new for many of our students. If you here your son or daughter talking about a teacher doing something different or something that wasn't how you were taught. Please reach out to your child's teacher to learn about what they're doing and why. It really is amazing when I visit a classroom and you see the light bulb go off for a student or group of students who've been struggling with a problem. When they figure it out on their own, they know they've accomplished it and the learning will stick with them.
