The ’16-’17 school year may be on the home stretch, but the transition into the new high school is just beginning. Possession of the new high school became official April 28.

“June 2 afternoon is when school gets out,” director of buildings and grounds George Smith said. “So district wide, custodians will congregate at the middle school that evening, and they’ll start moving stuff that evening.”

The old high school will become the new eight/nine middle school, so moving is required not only from the old high school to new, but within the middle school as well. The school district purchased mostly new furniture for the new high school, like desks and tables. Old furniture from the current middle and high school will be combined and chosen from, then used within the new middle school arrangement.

Smith explained that the custodial staff will do a majority of the moving in both the high school and middle school, but some hired professionals will be necessary to complete the move.

“The biggest challenge will be that first weekend of the move,” Smith said. Aside from the custodial staff, 20 hired professionals will be necessary both days of that weekend. They will all work together to empty all of the rooms by Monday morning, June 5. The moving crew has been granted access to the gymnasiums up to two weeks before school is out, in which they will place all of the boxes and furniture until they are transported to their new homes.

Students can get involved with the move too, through viewing a short EMC training video lasting about 18 minutes, which informs viewers of proper lifting techniques. “We would not allow students to help with the physical moving of school material without going through a training through the buildings and grounds people, it’s an insurance piece,” said principal Ryan Woods. He stated that there are certain things that the building and grounds staff should be the ones to move, due to their thorough training on how to lift or move heavy things.

However, Woods expects certain departments–such as band–to assist more with the transition, because they have previous experience with moving their supplies. “We have to move everything by June 3, and it’s stressful because we have to prepare for the Green Day’s Parade too,” band teacher Jeff Robilliard said.

In the new high school, the classroom setup may vary. Woods said that core classes, such as science, math, language arts or social studies may have distributed professional areas. In these cases, there will be no assigned classroom for each teacher, and a collaborative office space will be included. He believes there is efficiency in the new setup, because empty classroom space will be avoided, such as when teachers have planning periods.

Teachers are encouraged to prepare for the move early. Within the process, it is best to ‘pack and purge’ their items, by boxing up the necessary supplies, and throwing away or taking home all the rest, Smith said.

French teacher Tamara Andrews is excited about the move.”I am really looking forward to moving to the new high school,” she said. “I love the appearance of the new school. I think it will be inspirational to all of us, because I believe architecture lifts us up. A new building should help us raise our levels of respect, learning and happiness.”

Andrews said she is not worried about moving her own personal items, most of which she is planning on packing up and taking home. Andrews is viewing this transition with optimism. “I don’t think we should be negative at all about the move, because it’s such an amazing step forward for the district, and being flexible (within this process) is the key to success.”