by Neil Richard
I shamefully fell behind on my reporting duties over the holiday break and neglected to schedule a tour of the newly added section of the King George Middle School. I had hoped to get a tour of the new wing before students had access to give them, and their parents, a better idea of what to expect. Instead, I was a month too late but I'm still grateful that Principal Collins was gracious enough to give me yet another tour of the building.
Touring your old high school stomping grounds with one of your former teachers is a little surreal at times but with our shared history in the building, it made the expansion process a little easier to understand. In other words, when Mrs. Collins would tell me what room or section would move, I knew what she was talking about.
The first thing I noticed, or have noticed for some time now at least, is the more industrial look from the outside. The old dark brown metal trimmings are now steel grey. The interior is a little more industrial as well with may of the steel beams and some duct work left visible. Speaking of duct work, I noticed the new library has soft ducts installed. Almost like a child's collapsible play tunnel but hung on guide wires and with holes in it to let the hot and cold air out.
When you use the new main entrance, to the left of the old entrance if you're looking at the building from Dahlgren Road (Route 206), there is a newer, more secure method. With the old entrance, once you were buzzed in, visitors were on the honor system for making their way to the office. Now, there's no choice. Just like the entrance to the High School, there is a set of locked inner doors that force you to go into the office to sign in. Mrs. Conklin has a much nicer desk and more comfortable chairs to spend your time waiting but there's still a few areas that need some touching up.
The administrative staff, nurses, and counselors all enjoy a new space as does the School Resource Officer (SRO), Deputy Shriver. Above these new offices sits the new Library which has a commanding view of the softball and baseball fields. Attached to the Library are smaller rooms for collaborations, a maker space, classrooms, and of course bathrooms.
If the Library has the best view, the second-best view is from the walkway that could serve as a balcony over the new lunch room. Mrs. Collins and I debated if the new cafeteria was larger than the old one or not. She felt it was larger and I felt it was about the same size. Neither of us had a tape measure nor were we interested in arguing the point. It was clear that regardless of the size, there was extra room around the edges for students to move. There were also three new lunch lines, although only two are in use due to a lack of staff. As we walked through the kitchen area, it smelled like a staple of school lunches from the days of yore, stewed apples with cinnamon. I felt old because as a student, I never really liked them, but today, it smelled great and made me hungry. Mrs. Collins said some of the equipment was new but some of it was moved from the old cafeteria.
The Auxiliary Gym was just that, an extra gym. There was very little room around the edges of the full-size basketball court but the key asset of the gym was actually hidden from view. There were bathrooms that could be made accessible from the outside as well as a concession stand. Almost identical to the High School's setup, these could be put into service during sporting events but still keep the main building secure.
Even though the main focus of my tour was the newly added section, we did take a quick tour of the original building. The old cafeteria was walled off as the crews worked inside and the newly added classrooms next to it, sitting where the old covered walkways were, were ahead of schedule. There was also some shuffling of other staff and students as the construction crew worked in other classrooms that were once home to the Home Economics classes and the janitors.
As I discussed the scheduling and plans with Mrs. Collins, she brought up a point that had not occurred to me. She said the current plan was to have the project completely finished by this fall or early winter. Being halfway through the school year, she said that it would not make sense to move the 6th grade teachers and students in the middle of the year. That meant that the following school year, 2021-2022, would be the first year 6th grade students would be attending the Middle School. But it would also be the first year at the Middle School for the 7th graders. And it would be the first year at the Middle School for the 6th grade teachers. In other words, a lot of new people in a new building. But Collins was confident that there would be enough time using the completed building to figure out what worked best. She said they had already learned about a few things since moving in just a month ago.
Overall, the project is behind schedule in some areas and ahead of schedule in other areas. With most of the outside work being completed, weather should no longer play such a major factor. There are still some punch-list items to be taken care of, like a projector in the lunch room or a rough edge on a new wall, but again, Collins was confident that the end product would be great.
I shamefully fell behind on my reporting duties over the holiday break and neglected to schedule a tour of the newly added section of the King George Middle School. I had hoped to get a tour of the new wing before students had access to give them, and their parents, a better idea of what to expect. Instead, I was a month too late but I'm still grateful that Principal Collins was gracious enough to give me yet another tour of the building.
 |
| The new Nurse's Office. |
Touring your old high school stomping grounds with one of your former teachers is a little surreal at times but with our shared history in the building, it made the expansion process a little easier to understand. In other words, when Mrs. Collins would tell me what room or section would move, I knew what she was talking about.
 |
| Bookcases have yet to be delivered. |
The first thing I noticed, or have noticed for some time now at least, is the more industrial look from the outside. The old dark brown metal trimmings are now steel grey. The interior is a little more industrial as well with may of the steel beams and some duct work left visible. Speaking of duct work, I noticed the new library has soft ducts installed. Almost like a child's collapsible play tunnel but hung on guide wires and with holes in it to let the hot and cold air out.
 |
| Collaboration Room with a view. |
When you use the new main entrance, to the left of the old entrance if you're looking at the building from Dahlgren Road (Route 206), there is a newer, more secure method. With the old entrance, once you were buzzed in, visitors were on the honor system for making their way to the office. Now, there's no choice. Just like the entrance to the High School, there is a set of locked inner doors that force you to go into the office to sign in. Mrs. Conklin has a much nicer desk and more comfortable chairs to spend your time waiting but there's still a few areas that need some touching up.
 |
| Library view. |
The administrative staff, nurses, and counselors all enjoy a new space as does the School Resource Officer (SRO), Deputy Shriver. Above these new offices sits the new Library which has a commanding view of the softball and baseball fields. Attached to the Library are smaller rooms for collaborations, a maker space, classrooms, and of course bathrooms.
 |
| Fabric duct work. |
If the Library has the best view, the second-best view is from the walkway that could serve as a balcony over the new lunch room. Mrs. Collins and I debated if the new cafeteria was larger than the old one or not. She felt it was larger and I felt it was about the same size. Neither of us had a tape measure nor were we interested in arguing the point. It was clear that regardless of the size, there was extra room around the edges for students to move. There were also three new lunch lines, although only two are in use due to a lack of staff. As we walked through the kitchen area, it smelled like a staple of school lunches from the days of yore, stewed apples with cinnamon. I felt old because as a student, I never really liked them, but today, it smelled great and made me hungry. Mrs. Collins said some of the equipment was new but some of it was moved from the old cafeteria.
 |
| Auxiliary Gym. |
The Auxiliary Gym was just that, an extra gym. There was very little room around the edges of the full-size basketball court but the key asset of the gym was actually hidden from view. There were bathrooms that could be made accessible from the outside as well as a concession stand. Almost identical to the High School's setup, these could be put into service during sporting events but still keep the main building secure.
Even though the main focus of my tour was the newly added section, we did take a quick tour of the original building. The old cafeteria was walled off as the crews worked inside and the newly added classrooms next to it, sitting where the old covered walkways were, were ahead of schedule. There was also some shuffling of other staff and students as the construction crew worked in other classrooms that were once home to the Home Economics classes and the janitors.
 |
| Cafeteria. |
As I discussed the scheduling and plans with Mrs. Collins, she brought up a point that had not occurred to me. She said the current plan was to have the project completely finished by this fall or early winter. Being halfway through the school year, she said that it would not make sense to move the 6th grade teachers and students in the middle of the year. That meant that the following school year, 2021-2022, would be the first year 6th grade students would be attending the Middle School. But it would also be the first year at the Middle School for the 7th graders. And it would be the first year at the Middle School for the 6th grade teachers. In other words, a lot of new people in a new building. But Collins was confident that there would be enough time using the completed building to figure out what worked best. She said they had already learned about a few things since moving in just a month ago.
Overall, the project is behind schedule in some areas and ahead of schedule in other areas. With most of the outside work being completed, weather should no longer play such a major factor. There are still some punch-list items to be taken care of, like a projector in the lunch room or a rough edge on a new wall, but again, Collins was confident that the end product would be great.
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