By Joe Buttweiler –
MASON CITY – High school students will be in the middle school, eighth-graders will be in the portable classrooms outside of Mohawk Stadium, and seventh-graders will be at the former Madison Elementary School during the 2012-13 school year.
The big shift will be for high school students, whose main academic building will be under renovation beginning this summer. So they will move into the adjacent John Adams Middle School, where a massive renovation is nearly complete.
“What we’ve learned in transitioning (from building to building) so far is how to be flexible,” high school Principal T. J. Jumper said Monday. He asked parents attending a briefing on next year’s plans to be flexible as well, noting that there will undoubtedly be changes and tweaks to the draft plan for housing education next school year.
Speaking to about 60 in the Mohawk Gym, Jumper said the John Adams Middle School renovation is expected to be finished by June. The music room and hallway linking it to the cafeteria and office will be done by mid-August, followed by the completion of a new safety room in October.
Work on the two-story academic wing of the high school will begin in June, lasting about a year, Jumper said. Classrooms will be enlarged, heating and air-conditioning systems will be upgraded, and lighting, lockers and electrical service will be improved.
The biggest difference from the current school year, Jumper said, is that instruction “will be a lot more spread out than we are now.” The crescent of education will extend from the portable classrooms, through the high school (where art and other elective study classes will meet) to the middle school. Periods between classes will be expanded from the current five minutes to six, he said.
Fortunately, “John Adams has the perfect number of classrooms for the number of (high school academic) teachers we have,” Jumper said.
He noted that parking will be “drastically affected” by the transition, especially this summer, but the campus will end up with a much more safe east entrance off of Highway 122. During the 2012-13 school year, high school staff will park in the JAMS parking lot and the north two rows in the south lot. Students will be in the south two rows of the south lot and in the lot east of the gymnasium. JAMS staff will park in the first two rows in front of the portable classrooms.
School days will be from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; and from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday for eighth- through 12th-graders. Breakfast will be from 8:15 to 8:40 a.m. Quick time (study time) will be in the morning.
Students in ninth and 10th grades will have lockers at JAMS, while those in 11th and 12th will be in the MCHS hallways leading toward the gym.
There will one high school office in each building – JAMS and MCHS — and two nurses, one in the JAMS building and one in the annex. During lunch, one will be in the MCHS office and the other in the JAMS office. Office phone numbers will stay the same.
Jumper said the five computer labs will stay at MCHS. Two mobile computer carts with 30 laptops each will go to the JAMS building, which will have wireless access.
All in all, there will be a lot of change and need for flexibility, but the staff is committed to making the transition as smooth as possible for the students, Jumper said.
“We don’t have all the answers yet. Things are still popping up,” he said, such as the need to have more “dry labs” in chemistry. It “may not be as fun or entertaining,” he said, but it will be just as instructional.
For more information on the changes, check the Mason City Community School District website at http://www.mason-city.k12.ia.us/
I agree that the pool is horrendous. It’s old, outdated and does not do anything to help in swim team and swim club developement. It’s almost disgusting to go into that pool area and locker rooms. It’s a disgrace when hosting a swim meet.
Yes, I agree it’s not a terrific situation. However, I don’t think it’s the end of the world of learning. When the Clear Lake Junior High burned down in the 70’s, I had to spend all of 7th grade and half of 8th grade (no 6th graders in jr. high back then) sharing the H.S. 9-12 had school 7-11:40. Then the 7th & 8th graders took over the high school building noon-5. Yes, in the winter it was DARK when we went home. I’d say the majority of those involved in the abbreviated hours went on to lead productive, adequate-income-earning, and change-counting-abilities lives.
8:45 to 3:30? That’s it? I can see why kids cannot count back change, write a paragraph, or speak correctly. Bring back the 8 hour school day, along with basic things such as addition and subtraction. If they cannot do that, what the heck are they doing on computers and other luxuries?
I don’t like the disruption for the middle school students. some of these kids haven’t seen a permanent classroom for 2 years when these projects wrap up. but this is about the kids right?
Ridiculous! School board were able to sneak this nearly $40 million project through without public input and without a VOTE!!! And now they want more money on a referendum…GET OUT AND VOTE “NO”!!! And they are keeping the same terrible pool. Between the new ROOSEVELT Middle School and elementary and now this remodel of JAMS and MCHS and still NO NEW POOL included… Terrible Planning! Jumper is a wimp and the school is run like hell and there is lots of bullying and drugs. And just try to get a counselor to help a student or call a parent back, unless you are the “choosen” few. So glad my kids are out of there!
oh wow what a joke