New buildings in three districts make it a little easier to handle end of vacation

1/8/2008

By Charlie Boss

The Columbus Dispatch

Sixth-grader Jade Smith set her alarm 40 minutes early, carefully braided her hair and decided on an Ohio State jersey to wear.

Canal Winchester students returned to school yesterday after a two-week winter break. But sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders kicked off the new year as if it were the first day of school.

“She was so excited to come to school today,” said Beth McCoy, Jade’s mother.

Students and staff reveled in the spacious classrooms, roomier lockers and food-court-style cafeteria as the 120,590-square-foot Canal Winchester Middle School opened.

“We get a fresh start with everything,” said seventh-grader Levi Baugess.

Along with Canal Winchester, some students and staff members at Columbus and Hamilton schools also returned from the break in brand-new buildings equipped with state-of-the-art technology in the classroom and computer labs.

Nearly 1,200 Columbus students walked into new digs yesterday at South Mifflin Elementary and Champion and Wedgewood middle schools.

The three Columbus buildings are among 10 new schools that have opened so far this school year; Binns Elementary is slated to open in the spring.

Hamilton’s new middle school, which opened on Thursday, follows last fall’s debut of a new elementary in the district.

In the middle school, classrooms are stocked with interactive whiteboards and a sound system that allows teachers to speak through microphones.

“The kids, the parents and the community really deserve this educational setting,” said Hamilton Middle School Principal James Miller.

For students at Canal Winchester, the move to the new building was a drastic change.

The former middle school on Washington Street, built in 1862, was the oldest operating school in Ohio and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Administrators said the former middle school could barely house this year’s 810 students; administrators added portable classrooms and used the intermediate building to accommodate students.

The new school, which cost $21.2 million, was part of a $35.5 million bond issue that Canal Winchester voters approved in November 2004. A dedication ceremony and an open house for the new building will be on Jan. 16.

The new building has all students under one roof and offers teachers updated resources. Classrooms are outfitted with whiteboards, phones and LCD projection screens.

“We were in the Dark Ages with what we have now,” said Danielle Bartos, a sixth-grade social-studies teacher.

The move to the new school marks the end of an era for seventh-grade teacher Janice Jones, who attended Canal Winchester in the former building. Her father and brother also taught in the school.

“The fact that this is such an updated new building and benefits the students a lot, it’s easier to walk out of the (old) building,” she said.

cboss@dispatch.com

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