Media Center Transformation Shifts Classrooms Around High School

Olivia Stevens, Senior Staff Writer

January 10, 2017

Major changes to the media center and and courtyard classrooms are having a profound effect on the high schoolers.

As the student body enters into a new semester, there has been a series of classroom shifts and changes that have caught both students and teachers off guard. With the chaos of fixing schedules and switching out of classes, it has become apparent that room changes have an effect on the environment and perspective of the classroom.

As Sister Mary Glavin’s new class begins this semester, some students are bewildered by the different placement of their primary classes in the high school. (Photo Credit: Olivia Stevens/Achona Online)

Sophomore Theresa Tulsiak says, “I need to be in a room that does not have a lot of distractions on the walls and where I can focus on what the teacher is saying.”

As a result of the renovation of the library, the high school office is trying to slowly move all classes into the main building, resulting in shifting around in order to fit all of the required classes. The secondary building (media center, buildings near the courtyard, language classrooms) will all transform into the Middle School, and Academy will break down the current library into smaller sections of books for the high schoolers. The northern section of the second floor, belonging to the middle school, will now house primarily high school classrooms. This change of pace is meant to move Academy into a new age of renovation and reorganize the arrangement of the two different schools.

Soon, the media center will house solely the middle school, eliminating a quiet work space for the high school and opening up the second floor for more classrooms

“We are converting the library and, as of right now, it will not exist next school year and will, instead, be broken down into three different sections- one for the high school, one for the middle school, and one for elementary,” says Assistant Principal Erin Krukar. “We want to try something new.”

Mr. K subs for Mr. Butterly’s social justice class in the science classrooms which many seniors find peculiar since they primarily use these rooms for Anatomy, Forensics, and AP Biology.

The layout, location, and size of a classroom have a profound effect on the teacher and students’ performances. Primarily, Theology classes have been held on the third or fourth floor, closer to the religion office. Now, with the shifts in schedules, many theology classes are being held in the science wing near the labs which raises concerns over accidental breakage of lab equipment or in the event of biohazards to the students and teachers.

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Also, some Advanced Placement classes have been moved to the media center, but many are concerned where they will go once the middle school takes over the media center.

English teacher Virginia Pendleton expressing her concern with the changes saying, “We are currently in the media center, but we are brainstorming ideas for where we will go afterward since we will not have a room. Also, my students find they are more easily distracted by the swivel chairs in the media center, so they prefer a regular classroom.”

The transformations in the media center will be set in motion around the beginning of March.