Jackson district gets set for a fresh start

Six days before school begins, new construction at Jackson High School is in full swing. Saws whine through boards, booted feet walk across protective sheets over the flooring, and light streams in through wide windows.

The addition, referred to as the freshman center and as the J wing, was built on the site of "Old A," Jackson's old high-school building demolished last year to make way for a larger, more accessible building.

It's set up as a common area for ninth-grade students, said Supt. John Link, but there will be opportunities for students from other grades to enjoy the space.

On entering J wing from the main building, the area opens wide into a space where students can sit and work, together or alone, Link said.

A digital cafe on one side of the area will let students plug in, and gives them space to work on projects, he added.

KASSI JACKSON ~ kjackson@semissourian.com Construction crew members work on the J wing, the new freshman center, of the Jackson high school Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 in Jackson.

Carpeted "learning stairs" give students another area to congregate, Link said.

And, against one wall, two concrete arches salvaged from "Old A" grace the brick wall. They're part of what will be a display of Jackson High School memorabilia and photographs of its history, said district spokesperson Merideth Pobst.

Bricks from "Old A" will be incorporated into other areas, Pobst said, and the letters from that building's facade grace the new addition.

The other nod to the past is the layout, Link said: "It was designed to match the old, with tradition in between," he said of the communal area.

The communal area opens upward into the second level, a parallel to the main building's lobby area, Link said.

Throughout the J wing, there's a consistent -- and familiar -- color scheme: red and black, Jackson's school colors, with some dark gray thrown in for good measure.

Black lockers are being brought in and arranged in the long hallways, where they'll be installed before student arrival Aug. 22.

Renovation funds

J wing was built using Proposition J funds, approved by voters in April 2017. That allowed the district to borrow more than $22 million to demolish "Old A" and build J wing at the high school, and do extensive renovations at several other buildings.

Link said nearly every building in the district had at least some work done to it, except the junior high school, which is part of the district's long-term renovation plan.

Work complete, or nearly complete, includes:

• West Lane Elementary: renovated areas will be complete before school starts. The new FEMA shelter should be complete by December, weather permitting.
• Jackson Middle School: New and renovated areas are complete, except a new/additional gym, to be complete by mid-fall.
• North Elementary: New classroom, bathroom and other spaces are complete; outside work is finishing up.
• Agricultural, Industrial Technology (AIT) building: New industrial tech shop and classrooms are on schedule and should be ready by Wednesday's start date.
• New windows in the old gym.
• Paved parking lots at Millersville and Gordonville elementaries.
• Turf projects at football field and soccer field.
• New lights at the track.
• New fence at West Lane, North Elementary and soccer field.
• New sidewalks, stop signs and crosswalks nearly complete at the High School Event Center.
• New bus pickup canopy at East Elementary.

"We have enough classrooms to get school started" at every building, Link said.

It all goes back to the strategic plan, Link said, and input from community members who told the district what they wanted to see.

And Jefferson Avenue behind the new J wing is re-striped, with a designated pick-up/drop-off lane -- the result of collaboration between the city, St. Paul Lutheran School and the Jackson school district.

Staffing

"We added 26 new faculty members in addition to replacement teachers," Link said, for a total of 48 new hires.

"It's been a busy spring in Human Resources," Link said.

The ninth-grade students will move to the high school this year, the junior high will have seventh and eighth grades, the middle school will have fifth and sixth grades, and elementary schools will house kindergarten through fourth grades.

That means students, teachers and staff all have to shift and shuffle, and that means there is some uncertainty and anxiety.

But a teachers' scavenger hunt in progress Thursday morning was just one activity meant to help break the ice between people who are new to the district or the space -- or each other, Pobst said.

"We wanted to add more staff, but didn't have room to do it," Link said. "Now, we do, so we did."

The district is looking now to celebrate new beginnings, Link said.

Link said the district worked hard to stretch the taxpayers' dollars, while still addressing the district's needs for more space with an eye toward future use.

The district is growing, Link said.

"It's a good problem to have," Pobst said, but it does need to be addressed.

And since Jackson High School is bordered by the Jackson City Cemetery on one side, St. Paul Lutheran School on another, and Jackson Boulevard on another, the district has had to be creative with its land usage, Link said.

J wing

There's a room for textiles class, another for family consumer science -- new appliances were delivered earlier this week, Pobst said.

The hallways are wider, and windows are wide to let in light, Link said.

One hallway leads into a common area between the new construction, the existing high-school building and the old gym. It still was mostly mud and gravel on Thursday morning, but eventually, it will be landscaped with a security fence.

On the side of the building, a huge "J" stretches across the J wing's wall -- visible from part of the football field, lit at night. It's definitely an attention-getter, Link said.

All of the construction and landscaping, common areas and wide windows, lend the new construction a more college-level feel and, Link said, moving forward, the importance of spaces where students can learn outside the classroom will only increase.

"With online education, we'll need areas for online classes," he said. "Common areas allow students a place to work at school."

The district will hold a community open house Aug. 26, starting at Jackson High School at 2 p.m., then moving to the middle school at 3 p.m., before heading to North Elementary at 4 p.m..

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630