Jackson High School Principal Terry Cheshire can see the light at the end of the tunnel – both literally and figuratively.
When Cheshire arrived at Jackson in the fall, the construction of a dozen new classrooms, which began in the summer of 2003, was slated to be complete. But the Everett School District experienced setbacks when the contractor, StoneRidge Development Corp. of Spokane, fell behind.
After terminating that contract, the school district staff hired John Korsmo Construction, Inc. of Lakewood and had to sit tight while it completed the project.
The wait is over.
Staff and faculty were finally able to move into their new space this week during spring break, with classes scheduled to begin in the new rooms Monday.
“It’s in very good shape,” said Mike Gunn, director of facilities and planning. “The end result looks really good.”
The addition is really an extension of one long hallway already in place at Jackson. There is one noticeable difference when looking down the corridor, however.
Windows in the extended hallway allow light to stream in, creating Cheshire’s literal tunnel of light.
Cheshire said he’s excited about the addition.
The extended project completion date wasn’t an ideal situation, he said, although staff and students dealt with it as best they could. Jackson had to borrow the use of three portables at Heatherwood Middle School, which is adjacent to the high school.
“We do have teachers in the building who’ve had to travel,” Cheshire said. Although that is not out of the ordinary, he said, it will be nice to get settled into the new, two-story addition.
The classrooms will mostly be used for language arts, social studies and special education classrooms, he said. Eight of the rooms were built as double-sized classrooms with a partition in the middle. This will allow a space for multiple classes that may be working together to congregate, he said.
The addition includes lockers, but unlike most school lockers, these are not tall and narrow, they’re square. The different design is more conducive to fitting large, bulky backpacks, Cheshire said.
Top-of-the-line technology features also add a bonus.
Each room is equipped with a projector mounted on the ceiling, room for six student-computer workstations and a VCR.
All of this was done without a visible mess of wires, which can create a hazard, language arts teacher Dan Geary said.
Geary is moving to one of the new rooms, and was eager to take a look, so he stopped by April 4 during spring break.
“It’ll be nice to be in there,” he said.
The addition also houses a conference room, bathrooms, elevator, staff room and a stairwell, which overlooks a foyer built on the northwest-most corner of the building.
The contract award amount for this project was about $2.6 million.
It was funded by the $74 million bond package passed by voters in 2002, and will help the district accommodate the increasing student population from new housing developments in the area.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
