Ongoing construction leaves students without a gym or auditorium, disrupting fall sports and theater productions, and pushing changes for the 24-25 school year onto the student body. 

Construction, which began on January 13, 2022, aimed to expand and renovate the school’s facilities. It began as an effort to modernize the school’s structures and has impacted various student activities. The delays and setbacks in the timeline have had an impact, particularly on the athletics department and the arts. 

The absence of a gym returning to school in the fall of 2024 has created a void in space for fall sports teams, specifically volleyball. With no viable gym on campus, the team has now had to hold home games at the neighboring John Poole Middle School.      

“One of the bigger issues was that the aux gym ceiling was too low to hold home games,” said Varsity Volleyball Coach Mr. Steve Lotowski.

 Despite this challenge, he also expressed optimism about the new gym. 

“I imagine that the new gym will allow for greater flexibility in the types of things we can do at practice, we could do more position-specific drills because we will have more room,” Lotowski said. 

The arts and theater department also deals with the lack of an auditorium. With a designated space to rehearse for productions or store essential equipment, theater productions have been able to scale back in scope and size. The Midnight Players have had to adjust their procedures, limiting the types of plays and musicals they can produce and perform.

Senior Ceci Smith reflected on last year’s production, noting the toll the construction has taken on the department.

“It definitely impacted the capabilities of what we were able to do for the show,” Smith explained. 

Due to a lack of space to store all the costumes and props, they have to rent them. In addition to this, the Midnight Players have been holding their shows in the John Poole Middle School cafeteria- a smaller venue with limited seating capacity.

The administration has acknowledged the difficulties posed by the construction and is working to find short-term solutions for the theater department. They plan on reopening the auditorium in January, although it won’t be completely done. Things that the auditorium can work without like the back curtains may not be completed, but the administration is pushing for the space to reopen for use with a brand-new sound system.