Schools

Moon Area School Board Discusses Middle School Move-In

The district hears a presentation on the progress of the renovation of the middle school building.

A project architect with the New Castle-based firm JC Pierce said contractors are planning to turn over the new to the school district in phases beginning in May and ending in July.

Project architect Bill Cook said the phased turnover is intended to expedite the for the district. No specific date has been set for completion of the renovations,  but the school is scheduled to open for students at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.

Cook said he would meet with district administrators to finalize dates for the turnover. The at its meeting earlier this month tabled a motion to hire movers for the project.

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Cook and Brian Fulkerson, project manager with Eckles Construction Services Inc., provided board members last night with an overview of progress on district construction projects.

Crews are now painting and installing ceiling grids in some parts of the middle school while installing casework and flooring in other areas. The building was constructed in 1967 and until 2011 served as the district's high school.

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The district opened a high school in 2011 and has been in the process of renovating its former high school to house students in grades five through eight. The current middle school is set to be demolished later this year. 

Cook said landscapers have been called in to address issues with the district’s baseball field. The nearby softball field will be ready for use after bases are installed, he said.

Fulkerson presented board members with a plan to relocate district memorials to a new memorial garden to be located along the southeast portion of the new middle school.

The district’s Nicole Falbo Memorial Garden, now located at the Beaver Grade Road entrance for the former high school, and the David W. Hays Memorial Stone, among other district memorials, were discussed in the presentation before the board.

Board members requested that district administrators consult with family members before moving any campus memorials to other locations.

Fulkerson and middle school Principal Melissa Heasley told board members that they planned to use removable gates to block off traffic along a portion of the driveway near the middle school as a safety precaution to students. 

Heasley said the district would employ 16-foot-long removable gates to prevent traffic from driving through a section of the on-campus roadway near Beaver Grade Road and the baseball field. School custodians will remove the gates at the end of each school day. 

Fulkerson estimated the roadblocks will cost the district less than $10,000 per gate. 


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