Post by casey on Aug 9, 2009 10:08:07 GMT -6
Metea Valley High on pace to open on time
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1707194,Aurora-Metea-to-open-on-time_na080809.article
It may not be done, but Metea Valley High School will be ready.
"I think it is going to be extremely ready," Metea Principal Jim Schmid said Friday as he led the local media through the facility as hard-hat-clad construction workers and casually dressed staff members hustled about the halls, adding the finishing touches to the $126 million, 3,000-seat, 460,000-square-foot school.
"You can probably feel at this point that it's not too far away."
But neither is the start of school.
Come Aug. 20 — the first day of classes in Indian Prairie School District 204 — Metea will open its doors to about 1,300 students, roughly 650 of whom were freshmen at Waubonsie Valley last year, and an estimated 650 students who were eighth graders who graduated from Granger, Hill and Still middle schools.
It will open its door to about 100 staff members, most of whom have moved to Metea from positions they held elsewhere in the district.
It will open its doors almost six years after discussion of building the district's third high school started to pick up steam, but only a little more than a year after construction actually began.
"I think we're in pretty good shape," Schmid said. "I really do, surprisingly, I think, to the public, because they kept seeing it go up from the outside, and all of a sudden, pow, you've got this school."
Actually, the two-story classroom wing that will eventually house Metea's junior and senior classes, as well as music and fine arts facilities, the auditorium, an auxiliary gymnasium and the pool, won't be complete until January.
But construction of the freshman and sophomore wings, as well as the school's guidance and administrative offices, library, cafeteria, and competition gymnasium, is essentially complete.
"The progress they've made in the last two weeks is remarkable in terms of cleaning it up and getting it ready," Schmid said of the construction crews that worked hard to hand off the building's key to Schmid and his staff at the beginning of the month. "But it has been a colossal task of bringing everything in and making sure it is in the right place and insuring that it gets moved from here to here. The books — that's a whole other colossal task. The technology — that's another colossal task. The phone system is a colossal task because we're going to a new system.
"There's still that infrastructure stuff that is a little more hidden that we don't just see from our lens as we walk through it," he added. "So we're not done yet, but we're pretty close."
The walls are mainly beige or white, but the school's colors — black and gold — are found in carpeting, tile and other accent pieces spread about the school. And furniture and fixtures are obviously new, but not overly fancy.
The layout of the building is "like a bow tie," and the assignment of space will follow a "house concept" where the lockers, classrooms and support staff for each grade level are located together.
Maybe the most noticeable feature of the facility is its abundance of natural light. Every room has a window, and the library and cafeteria open up to an internal courtyard. They all combine to create a big, brightly lit commons area that's sure to be a hit.
"Not too bad, is it?" said Schmid as he wrapped up the tour. "We feel pretty fortunate."
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1707194,Aurora-Metea-to-open-on-time_na080809.article
It may not be done, but Metea Valley High School will be ready.
"I think it is going to be extremely ready," Metea Principal Jim Schmid said Friday as he led the local media through the facility as hard-hat-clad construction workers and casually dressed staff members hustled about the halls, adding the finishing touches to the $126 million, 3,000-seat, 460,000-square-foot school.
"You can probably feel at this point that it's not too far away."
But neither is the start of school.
Come Aug. 20 — the first day of classes in Indian Prairie School District 204 — Metea will open its doors to about 1,300 students, roughly 650 of whom were freshmen at Waubonsie Valley last year, and an estimated 650 students who were eighth graders who graduated from Granger, Hill and Still middle schools.
It will open its door to about 100 staff members, most of whom have moved to Metea from positions they held elsewhere in the district.
It will open its doors almost six years after discussion of building the district's third high school started to pick up steam, but only a little more than a year after construction actually began.
"I think we're in pretty good shape," Schmid said. "I really do, surprisingly, I think, to the public, because they kept seeing it go up from the outside, and all of a sudden, pow, you've got this school."
Actually, the two-story classroom wing that will eventually house Metea's junior and senior classes, as well as music and fine arts facilities, the auditorium, an auxiliary gymnasium and the pool, won't be complete until January.
But construction of the freshman and sophomore wings, as well as the school's guidance and administrative offices, library, cafeteria, and competition gymnasium, is essentially complete.
"The progress they've made in the last two weeks is remarkable in terms of cleaning it up and getting it ready," Schmid said of the construction crews that worked hard to hand off the building's key to Schmid and his staff at the beginning of the month. "But it has been a colossal task of bringing everything in and making sure it is in the right place and insuring that it gets moved from here to here. The books — that's a whole other colossal task. The technology — that's another colossal task. The phone system is a colossal task because we're going to a new system.
"There's still that infrastructure stuff that is a little more hidden that we don't just see from our lens as we walk through it," he added. "So we're not done yet, but we're pretty close."
The walls are mainly beige or white, but the school's colors — black and gold — are found in carpeting, tile and other accent pieces spread about the school. And furniture and fixtures are obviously new, but not overly fancy.
The layout of the building is "like a bow tie," and the assignment of space will follow a "house concept" where the lockers, classrooms and support staff for each grade level are located together.
Maybe the most noticeable feature of the facility is its abundance of natural light. Every room has a window, and the library and cafeteria open up to an internal courtyard. They all combine to create a big, brightly lit commons area that's sure to be a hit.
"Not too bad, is it?" said Schmid as he wrapped up the tour. "We feel pretty fortunate."
