Feature Photo By: Dominique Harlan – Junior Hana Fentahun uses her locker located in the new wing. Fentahun faces the possibility of having her locker relocated to a different area in the building after construction on the new wing begins prior to winter break.
When the announcement of the 31 million dollar deficit for Aurora Public Schools (APS) made it to the surface toward the end of the 2016-17 school year, budget cut plans for the district were presented soon after.
For Rangeview specifically, many students and teachers alike expected class sizes to increase.
If it weren’t for the Measure 3C bond that passed last November, this assumption would probably still hold true. The $300 million dollar bond that was passed accounts for the addition of technology improvements and renovations at Rangeview, and paves a path for six new classrooms additions to the New Wing.
“[The new wing] will have six classroom additions. Two of the rooms will be… what they’ll call STEM classrooms,” Principal Ronald Fay explained. “So, they will have more white board space, more electrical outlets, a little different storage, and possibly some moveable individual work station walls.”
Fay elaborated that in total, eight classrooms are embedded in the project. Six will be built onto the new wing; one will form in place of the Senior Section and the last one will be between the weight and plyometrics rooms.
Fay is working closely with project coordinator David Elisberg, who oversees tasks within the district and design/construction teams.
“During design I’m representing the architects and engineers to make sure that they’re adhering to standards the district has for buildings,” Elisberg stated. “During construction it’s the same role, I’m just now working with the contractors as well as the design team.”
Construction for two classrooms outside of the new wing (Senior Section and between the plyometrics and weight room) are expected to start over the winter break of the 2017-2018 school year, and be done by the time students return in January.
The construction on the new wing is expected to start after winter break and continue into the summer of 2018. The classrooms are estimated to be ready for the 2018-2019 school year.
As far as those who will be directly affected by the construction, that is yet to be announced — however, relocations are in the near future.
Junior Karly Trimble who reported having a locker in the new wing stated, “I was not aware of the construction, this is all new information to me,” adding, “so many lockers didn’t work at the beginning of the year. I thought there weren’t enough lockers for all our students in the first place, so where are the new lockers coming from? I play sports year round, so I need that locker.”
All teachers with classrooms in the New Wing (except for rooms 100 and 107) will be moved in order to avoid fire code violations.
As a whole, the construction still has some last minute loose ends to tie together before building and renovations become a reality. Announcements about the construction have yet to be made to the entire school.
Parents are solely to thank for the design ideas, as their votes determined how the layout of the classrooms would look.
Fay explained, “We got input from our parents and we’re the ones that voted. We had two different designs and we took it to them and said, ‘which one do you prefer?’ and this is what they picked. They felt like their dollars were going further with this choice, so I am very pleased.”
Future updates are to come. For more information about the bond release and construction projects outside of Rangeview, visit: http://aurorak12.org/2017/09/13/new-bond-funded-projects-begin/
