NHS Expansion Opens For Students

By Eliza Hallabeck

Despite snowy weather over the weekend, Newtown High School’s expansion was ready and open for students on Monday, January 10.

As announced a week earlier by school officials, some work remained to be completed before the space could be used by students, staff, and faculty. At the Board of Education’s Thursday, January 6, special meeting, Board of Education Chair William Hart and Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said most of the work had been reported completed earlier in the day, with some specific adjustments waiting for materials to be shipped by manufacturers. Other tweaks may occur while students have use of the space, according to Dr Robinson and Mr Hart.

The move into the expansion occurred between Friday, January 7, and Sunday, January 9. The $38.8 million expansion was approved by voters and broke ground in May 2009, and included a new cafetorium, science classrooms, culinary classroom space, and a new nurtury space.

To prepare students for the move, NHS Principal Charles Dumais said the school made new classroom numbers available on student schedules in their PowerSchool accounts online, and handed out maps of the new space the week before.

Teachers were also allowed access to the expansion to familiarize themselves with the new space, according to Mr Dumais.

On Monday, NHS Assistant Principal Jason Hiruo told gathered NHS PTSA members at a group meeting that his office was already set up. Other offices were also full by Monday, with copy machines and other necessities already in place.

The expansion’s servery in the school’s new cafeteria was up and supplied students with food and a place to sit to study for the first time on Monday.

When the project broke ground in 2009, the portion of the project dedicated to the renovation of existing facilities was slated for completion in January 2011. Prior to last August, the expansion was expected to be ready for student use by the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. With the September date pushed back to January, the renovation of existing facilities will begin in the coming weeks. Roughly three to five months is estimated for completion of the project.

Dr Robinson said she was there on Monday morning when students began using the space, and, she said, the students and teachers seemed really excited the new classrooms and furniture.

“Everybody is getting used to the new environment, but it is nice to see it finally finished,” she said.

Now, Dr Robinson said all the final touches that need to be fixed are being looked into, like tiles that need to be changed and the vent in the culinary space is still not working properly. Dr Robinson said the school is waiting for the vent to be reengineered.

As she has been planning, Dr Robinson is still expecting to welcome community members and people who have been associated with the work on the expansion to the school for an open house.

“Once the computers are set up in the tech area, and the teachers are all finally moved in, we will probably have an open house and give people tours,” she said.