Lockers highlight of school addition, teens say
<p>Hayden Willard, Ethan Olson and Rielly Manger and others in Heather Dickey’s seventh grade social studies class work on Wednesday morning. According to Dickey, the addition to the Fair-Mont-Egan School have given the class much more light and space. She said the students are proud of their school.</p>
The 169 students at Fair-Mont-Egan School now have an additional 3,000 square feet of space to explore at their school.
A $603,000 addition to the building was completed Sept. 1. It includes two new classrooms for seventh- and eighth-graders, additional cafeteria space, a new entryway and a hallway connecting the addition to the old building.
People can check out the new space at an open house, scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday at the school at 797 Fairmont Road in Kalispell.
It’s the first addition to the school in about 20 years, Principal Christine Schmidt-Anthony said. In the late 1980s a middle school wing was added to the building. School officials spent several years planning for this latest addition, Schmidt-Anthony said. After voters defeated a bond issue request, school leaders searched for alternative funding, district Business Manager Susan Clanton said. They secured $419,132 in grants and $183,868 from school capital improvement funds.
The addition freed up space for special education programs and tutoring.
Prior to the construction, teachers and students adapted to their crowded building by using the stage, cafeteria and hallways for all sorts of purposes.
Schmidt-Anthony now welcomes visitors in the new entrance which features the school mascot “Bruins,” a giant bear.
On a recent tour, Schmidt-Anthony pointed to a back wall, which used to be the exterior wall of the building. She then walked down the new hallway that links two buildings.
“The buildings were separate before,” Schmidt-Anthony said. “We expanded the cafeteria a little bit. If you ask the kids what’s the most exciting part … it’s the lockers.”
In one of the new classrooms, seventh-grade teacher Heather Dickey asked students about their favorite part of the new addition. Some students mentioned the classroom, but the overwhelming response echoed Schmidt-Anthony’s sentiment — the lockers — an upgrade from the former cubbies, hooks and shelves students previously used to store textbooks and backpacks.
“We started (construction) the day school got out, and finished just before school started,” Clanton said. With a sigh of relief, she added, “We have room.”