The Kent County School Board hosted the County Commissioners at the Middle School on Tuesday to discuss the future on the Middle School. I was thoroughly impressed with the professionalism of President Joe Goetz and the other members. The meeting started on time, the agenda outlined goals, educational themes, the scope of the school, grade structure options and general stakeholder concerns. Every School Board Member was prepared and well versed on the issue. The discussion was finished in 90 minutes.
Dr. Couch was enthusiastic about the providing students with a new, improved and welcoming environment and entertained all options with thoughtful comments. It was clear that her top priority was the education and welfare of our students.
The consultant hired to guide the community in this big endeavor is a gem. Dr. Lever is the former director of the IAC for public school construction and has worked with other counties on the Shore to build new schools. He has a vision for a state of the art facility for the community as well as our children. And he is very approachable.
After touring the building, it was clear to me that It is past time to replace the Middle School which was built in 1949 as a High School. Schools have a 30 to 50 year life span and our 72 year old school is showing its old age. The roof and HVAC need to be replaced, the circulation pattern is poor, many rooms have no natural light and are too small.
While our Middle School is outdated and in poor repair, our teachers get high marks. During our tour, I could see why parents rave about how much their children love their teachers at the Middle School. Making the best of dark rooms and ancient furniture, our teachers have decorated the ceiling with artwork by students commemorating the Civil Rights movement, challenging writing assignments were evident and reminders to be positive and kind were everywhere.
Every other county in the state has built one or more new schools for their children. It is time for Kent County to look forward and prepare the next generation for the future in a new school that has flexibility and technology and air circulation to provide the very best for our students. Everyone should be part of this exciting process. Keep a look out for future meetings and support our School Board, staff and students realize the vision of a bright, welcoming, state of the art school.
Judy Gifford
Kennedyville
Deirdre LaMotte says
I agree totally. I look at the Middle School and High School, both seem physically unwelcoming. Little to no windows,
they look like veritable prisons. People need attractive, human level spaces . The Church Hill Elementary School is
an example of what the middle and high schools should look like.
Gretchen F Stroh says
It makes alot of sense to add the Middle school to the worton campus. Theres already a school that (that doesn’t function well)….the same school buses could pink up high schoolers and middle schoolers, and there is currently room to start transitioning 8th grade to the high school…..Also the middle school property might be able to be sold, or developed residentially. Both schools are a mess….a school should have a longer life span than 30 years.
Phil Ticknor says
I toured tbe building after a stakeholders meeting on the topic a couple weeks ago. It is shocking how obviously old the building is when walking around inside it. It reminds me of some of the old school buildings I visited when I was a kid and that was 30+ years ago and those schools seemed old THEN.
There are significant worn away spots on every step of the stairwells from 70+ years of being climbed. The lockers are in disrepair with peeling paint. The bathrooms are ancient. For anyone who thinks the building could perhaps be renovated instead, it’s so far past due for that that it would likely cost far more to make it look even close to modern than it would to build a new building. All of the school buildings in our district are 50ish+ years old and we should be planning out a long-term solution to significantly renovating or replacing all of them, but a brand new middle school must come first and as soon as possible. It is that bad.
Helen says
Ok the building is old but you have 2 newer building in the county that aren’t being used why can’t you use 1of them as a new middle school. Yes you need to do some work in one of these but would save the county some money.