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2005 |
2006 |
How do they do it?
Kristin Flenniken, Communications Specialist, kflenniken@wcpss.net
Walk the Millbrook High School campus and you’ll find students
and staff carrying on as usual. No one stops to stare at the construction,
which is at every corner, nor is there any interaction with the 100-plus
contractors on site. Although it can be tough at times to hold a conversation
outside, once indoors you’d never know there was a major construction
project going on.
“Staff still has its earnestness of purpose,” said Dana King,
principal of Millbrook High School. “Bells ring, doors close and
teaching begins.”
The school’s 2005 SAT scores back up her comments. Millbrook boasts
the highest increase in SAT scores of any WCPSS school – a 34-point
gain over the previous year.
How do they do it? Communication, communication, communication, says King,
who is in her third year at Millbrook. “You can never communicate
too much. There are so many unpredictable things that you have to live
through; it’s just part of a renovation project.”
Teachers receive a State of the Union construction e-mail twice a week,
and there’s a weekly construction segment on the school’s
televised morning announcements. Millbrook is also chronicling its project
– complete with photos and descriptions – online at http://mhs.wcpss.net.
When the construction project got to the point where the entrances and
exits for the parking lots needed to change, the school administration
took several additional measures to ensure students and staff were informed:
Millbrook downloaded a map onto the school web page, sent messages via
the phone master system, distributed half-page handouts in the parking
lot, and made an announcement in the PTSA newsletter.
To cope with the temporary inconveniences of a project, flexibility is
also essential. Although King didn’t increase the number of minutes
between class periods, she is working with the students who have to travel
from the mobiles at one end of the campus to the ones at the opposite
end. Teachers will grant the students a little leeway as long as they
keep their class schedules with them. The principal has also arranged
most classes so that the freshmen are grouped together and the upperclassmen
are together. For example, all upperclassmen classes, except for science,
are in one section of mobiles.
Students and staff must be flexible as they share the limited available
space on campus. The band, soccer and football teams coordinate their
schedules to share the main field, as mobile classrooms cover the practice
field. Similarly, with part of Millbrook’s cafeteria blocked off
due to construction, the school holds three lunch periods. The cafeteria
is also the site for class meetings, held in shifts, while the new auditorium
is constructed (opens this summer).
“I’m most proud of the fact that we didn’t send anyone
or anything away,” said King. Millbrook kept all its programs and
course offerings. Even over the summer, in spite of building demolition,
the freshmen camp, as well as band and sports camps, driver’s education,
nighttime courses, and summer school continued.
Sidebar:
Millbrook High School’s PLAN 2004 project, which began in April
2005 and will complete in January 2007, includes demolishing part of the
main building; constructing a new three-story classroom building and auditorium;
stadium improvements, including new concession area and ticket booth,
additional bleachers and new lighting; upgrading the parking lot; minor
renovations to the gyms and cafeteria; installing a sprinkler system in
the band, choral, media and shop areas; and major renovations to the locker
rooms and athletic spaces.
