Maloney: Modular members moving to Midland Monday
If you see one or more trailers that look like classrooms being trucked through the Westside next week, you're seeing right.
In all, starting Monday, 11 separately wheeled sections of a 10,000-square-foot modular building will eventually be transported from Jackson Elementary - where the Renaissance Academy formerly rented it from Resun Leasing - to Midland Elementary, according to Mike Maloney, director of District 11 Facilities. The building, which cost $286,000 and includes air-conditioning, will help the school handle Midland's increasing enrollment, stemming from its International Baccalaureate (IB) program and new housing developments in its attendance area. The sections will be assembled at Midland, where grading has been underway since late June and a concrete pad is to be poured this weekend just southwest of the main school building, Maloney said. The goal is to have the unit ready for use in time for the 2005-06 school year, which starts Aug. 18. “We want to beat that date by a week at least so the teachers can move in,” he said. The plan is for the building to house two classes each of kindergarten, first-grade and second grade. There will also be an open area for projects and a small office area, Maloney said. A small toddler playground had to be removed for the modular, but will be relocated, he said. Renaissance Academy had been leasing District 11 property while using the modular, but no longer needed it because the academy is going to a permanent school, he noted. Midland has increased in enrollment from about 120 students two years ago to 171 in the official count last fall. More students are anticipated as the major Gold Hill Mesa development goes in during the next several years. The modular is providing an interim solution while the district monitors the growth and considers a larger school several years in the future. Westside Pioneer article |