Unfinished school kicks off
Publications class had no desks for West Valley High School’s first day Friday. The family and consumer science room’s ovens were still in boxes. Almost all the teachers were still waiting for desks.
But school officials said the first day of class in a new, unfinished $30 million building went off without a hitch.
“This is one of the smoothest starts I’ve been around,” said Principal Gary Neal. “We still have that novelty factor going for us.”
West Valley High’s first day was delayed two days this week as construction workers scurried to install carpet and get the building up to code for student use. Floors had fresh carpeting Friday, but large swaths of walls were still unfinished drywall, and dust covered windows and tiled floors.
Project manager Dave Smith said it was fun to hear the “oohs and ahs” of students walking through the building. He saw no glitches Friday, and state officials will be checking the air quality in the school Monday.
Students attended a half-day of classes Friday, starting with an assembly in which Neal warned students of the golden rule of school construction: “If you’re not sure if you should touch it or go there, don’t do it.”
Family and consumer science teacher Karen Richmond said she couldn’t get in the building until after Tuesday, and even then she couldn’t move things into her room because carpet hadn’t been put down. On Thursday the boxes arrived, but they stayed stacked near – but not against – a wall. Construction workers still need the space along the walls to install baseboard trim.
“We’ll be using hot plates at first,” Richmond said. Three new ovens were in cardboard boxes in a neighboring kitchen room.
Students are going to most classes in the one completed wing of the building, but students going to the all-new gym or band rooms must snake through a plywood hallway lit by construction lights in yellow baskets. Workers wearing hard hats weaved through crowds of students between periods, and a constant hammering could be heard from anywhere in the building. Crews will soon start working swing shifts, allowing classes to go on undisturbed, school officials said.
Most students appeared to have no major problems finding their new classrooms or moving about the building. Most also seemed happy the school was down to six portables, rather than the 13 students dealt with during construction last spring.
“It’s been a little easier. It’s all organized now,” said Ron Amsden, a 15-year-old sophomore who spent time waiting for a class to start by sitting with friends on steps in front of the school’s striking new entrance, featuring the original 1924 West Valley High School’s granite and marble entrance enclosed in a two-story glass case. This semester already appears to be better than last spring, Amsden said, when construction caused even more hassles and workarounds.
Amsden said he feels safe in the new building, gesturing to the antique entrance’s owl gargoyles and joking that “I guess one of those falling on your head could suck.”