Every classroom got upgraded with new carpet, paint and an 80-inch monitor
Healdsburg Junior High students walked into a completely new school when they started back on Thursday, Aug. 14. The facility has undergone a modernization including construction for new science buildings, a remodeled entrance and redone classrooms and staff offices, complete with robust wireless Internet capabilities.
Bill Halliday, principal of the Healdsburg Junior High School, said “The multiple improvements to the buildings are both aesthetically pleasing and a great enhancement to our educational mission.”
The biggest change is that next school year the portables on College Street will be replaced with science buildings across the street.
The entrance of the junior high has been remodeled to create a more open and warm entryway. Before, the entrance gave out an unwelcoming message and “it almost had a prison-like feeling to it; it was gray and steel,” Halliday said.
The entrance now opens up an “entirely new attitude about welcoming the community and the kids and letting the sunshine in- it makes a big difference,” Halliday said.
Additionally, each classroom has been remodeled with new carpet, paint and 80-inch monitors, Halliday said.
Staff offices have also been moved around and remodeled. Halliday himself got a new office with a remodeled, larger window.
As the school year progresses, more changes will be on the horizon, particularly with the construction of the new science quad.
The junior high school modernization projects were made possible with money from a general obligation bond approved by Healdsburg voters in 2012. The $35 million bond will also fund modernization projects at Healdsburg High School and improved student access to computers, technology and science labs.
