New high school reaches halfway point
By Amy Robinson
Farmer Staff Writer
The wall structures for the new Watford City High School, east of town
are almost done, meaning the construction is finally at its halfway
point. Completion is on target for the end of the year, with the
transition of school students moving into their new building set for
January 2016.
“We’re very much at pre-cast of the walls and the wall structure itself
almost being done,” said Steve Holen, McKenzie County Public School
District #1 superintendent. “And we’re probably at about 50 percent of
the roof being done. We’re in the enclosure process, and we’re at a
milestone in the process of the windows going in.”
Kraus-Anderson Construction Company of Minneaplois, Minn., has been
feverishly working to stay on track with their time frame, and according
to Holen, they have been a really good construction team to work with,
having a good flow and working at a great pace.
With the framing going up, block work being set, and masonry work being
accomplished, rooms are starting to take form in the new
state-of-the-art building. According to Ron Shatto, area superintendent
with Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, windows and roofing should be
done in less than a month. Once enclosure takes place, the process will
move rather quickly.
“The HVAC and electrical are going well,” said Holen. “We see a lot of
it coming together. One of the last parts was the expansion of the
cafeteria. It got added late and the construction crew is getting that
part framed in.”
With the expansion of the cafeteria space, an additional 3,000 square
feet was added to the total square footage of the building. With that
additional space added, the total square footage of the entire building
will be approximately 160,000 square feet, with a capacity of 800
students. According to Holen, there are contingencies built in to add in
the future if needed.
With 600 students enrolled in the existing Watford City High School at
the end of the 2014-2015 school year, there is no denying that those
students were feeling cramped in a much smaller space. The existing high
school building, built in 1985, is only 120,000 square feet, with a
capacity of 500 to 600 students. With that capacity fully maxed out,
students are undeniably looking forward to the transition into their new
high school facility in early 2016.
“There will be a lot more space to utilize in the new building,” stated
Holen. “And we will be able to hold more events. It will be a building
that will reflect 30 years of transition and growth. It’s a building
where we get to modernize our approach to how we’re teaching our
students today. Over the past 30 years, things have really changed.”
The new high school will boast several features and upgrades including a
new full-fledged theatre with an orchestra pit, a larger gym, a student
grill area, a student store, updated and changed spaces for the
vocational agriculture and family consumer science departments, five
computer lab classrooms, several commons areas for team teaching,
several teacher office/working spaces, an extensive amount of parking,
and an underground walk-way to the new Events Center.
“Everything in the new high school building will all tie to the student
curriculum,” says Holen. “The layout will be very different. We’ll have a
high-tech area catered to our newer STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum. It will be more designed to an
area that is conducive to not being exposed to the elements. Our family
consumer science area will be more modernized and will expand on the
culinary arts, which will include a curriculum that adds a
commercial/industrial cooking piece as well. And our new gym could have a
capacity to hold 1,400 people with bleachers added.”
Watford City High School’s existing gym, built in 1957, has outgrown its
current capacity of 800 people. According to Holen, the current gym is
the oldest piece in the district, but has served the community well.
The grill operation in the new building will be able to double as a
concession for the many sporting/educational events held in the gym, as
well as a grill the students will be able to use as an extension of the
classroom and for school lunches.
“The grill will have a multi-purpose use for a lot of different
aspects,” said Holen. “And the marketing of it - we can have banquets
and cater school events. By using the grill in this manner, we will be
able to utilize it and not have to have a full-size kitchen or have to
use the kitchen staff.”
The full-fledged theatre, complete with its own sound and lighting
system, will be able to not only offer the students an enhanced learning
space, but the community as well. It will open up the dynamic of the
fine arts department by involving many more students and educational
departments. Not only will the music department be able to use this new
space to its full extent, but students from the theatre and the
computer/science departments will additionally.
“The idea is really to get the students involved,” stated Holen. “Now,
we can really have three departments involved and working in the
theatre. It’s a space that will be viewed, really, as a community-based
and community-used part of the building. The new theatre will be able to
hold a capacity of 600 people instead of our current media center,
which holds about 225.”
The transition of moving high school students from the existing building
into the new one is still being planned for January 2016, says Holen.
Grades 7 through 12 will move up to the new building, while the fourth
through sixth grades will be in the old high school building.
“The fifth grade students will get to move out of the portables and into
classrooms,” said Holen. “We are hoping there will be minimal
disruption with the actual move itself. The move into the new high
school will be easier. There will be no transition at all for sixth
graders, and a little bit of transition for the fourth and fifth
graders. It really should be minimal. We are still working on
formalizing those details though.”
Once the transition takes place, a crowded 725-student elementary school
will then become a less-packed building with approximately 550 to 600
students in grades K-3. And there will be about 300 to 350 students in
the new high school building. Of course the school district will have to
duplicate services adding a third building. But because there are
currently two principals at the elementary school, one will stay at the
elementary school and one will move over to lead the 4-6 grades.
“Most likely one principal would stay at the elementary and one would go
to the old high school building,” said Holen. “We’ll have to duplicate
those services such as additional custodial, kitchen, and administration
staff, with a third building. But those details will be worked out.”
The long-term goal, according to Holen, is to have the old high school
building operate and function as a true middle school, which will most
likely serve a middle-level range of students from grades 6-8.
“Whatever we do to the old high school will be with the intent of
functioning as a middle school,” says Holen. “Which will hopefully be
sixth, seventh, and eighth grade - a middle level range. This transition
is only temporary, and not long-term. The long-term goal is to have a
middle level middle school.”
And according to Holen, once the fourth and fifth graders move to the
old high school building, those students will still have time to stretch
their legs with recess. It might just look different than it used to at
the elementary school. Holen says they will have to get creative with
some spacing, as there will be limited green space with the old high
school building.
“It will be a work in progress,” says Holen. “We can do some hard-top
surfaces, the old shop areas could be used for indoor recess areas, and
we can still use the parks and football field because they’re in close
proximity. We’ll just get creative and make it work.”
As construction on the new high school nears the end, and transition
moves its way closer and closer, Holen imagines there will be a series
of open houses to allow students, parents, and community members to see
the final outcome of a $53 million project.
“We’re trying to update our website on a more weekly-basis with our
progress and pictures,” said Holen. “It’s been a substantial investment,
but it will be a building the community can be proud of and a building
that will evolve over the years to come. We want to encourage people to
watch our progress and to be a part of what’s going on as we move
forward.”
To keep updated on the current progress and/or to see pictures, visit
the school’s website at www.watford-city.k12.nd.us and click on the new
high school project tab.