Selected images from a gallery depicting the new 592,000 square foot high school in Verona, Wisconsin, starting with the reception desk and atrium...
More photos and brief explanatory notes at Madison.com.
02 September 2020
Photos of our new local public high school
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That does look a lot like the new high school in our town.
ReplyDeleteLooks very nice. As it should.
ReplyDeleteI never really understand why American school 'privatize' so much sports real estate. Wouldn't it be better to have that pool be a public pool that happens to be located on school grounds? Same with the giant auditorium.
And some tax payers will always find that any government spending is excessive.
As comparison, Virginia new school costs:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/facility_construction/school_construction/costs/index.shtml
The public high school that I went to allowed clubs and groups to use school spaces after hours. I did not see the pool getting used but presumably you would have to provide lifeguards and maybe cleaning or something. It would have been nice to have public pool access too, but there were other public pools. And pretty much every elementary school playground I've seen is open for the public outside of school hours
DeleteThe natatorium is currently closed because of coronavirus; it was originally scheduled to be used extensively for community youth and adult swim programs.
DeleteSame with the performing arts center, which was available for the public to rent:
Delete"The Verona Area School District believes that school facilities belong to the community and should be made available to the public for uses that benefit the community. The School Board recognizes that school facilities are a valuable asset to the community and encourages their use for worthwhile purposes when such use is in accordance with the provisions of our policies and its implementing procedures. The Board also believes that the use of school facilities should not place a significant burden on the taxpayers of the District. Therefore, fees shall be established to address costs incurred by the District for labor, utilities and use of school facilities by user groups."
That's a high school?? DAMN! I would have guessed a college. Maybe the plan is to start a community college and this is a sneaky way around it.
ReplyDeleteColleges do this, certainly - and especially for athletic venues - because they are in a competitive environment and try to attract students/athletes from a wide geographic area. High school students are more of a captive audience.
DeleteI view this as a community effort to attract upscale residents. Verona has now become home for the headquarters campus of Epic Systems -
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/business/epic-systems-campus-verona-wisconsin.html
- perhaps in part because of the attractiveness of the school system.
I need to correct myself. I should not have said that high school students are a captive audience. A best friend of mine from high school who went on to a successful career as a school principal reminded me that nowadays it is not unusual for even middle-school students to transfer between schools to make best use of their athletic or music/art skills. He went on to offer the following observations:
Delete"Then there's the safety and security factor. My last high school principalship was in a school that was 50-years old in terms of most of the facilities/buildings, and had been designed by a Florida architectural firm based on the open campus design. We had something like 23 separate buildings that kids could/had to go to during the school day. And one Sunday afternoon I went around and counted the number of outside doors on all those buildings. 169!!! A security nightmare. When we built a new building, everything was in one building, with segments inside the building that could be cordoned off by steel gates dropping from the ceiling, better lines of site, access at a few doors only by swipe card, etc.
Here's one other sort of anecdotal thing about a new building. Think about when you get a new car. Are you more sensitive to leaving "stuff" in it, or eating food in it. Do you clean it more often, including washing and waxing. For most people the answer to those questions is yes. Same with a new building. It tends to be better taken care of by everybody, including students, because it is so new and shiny and people take more pride in it. A 50-year-old building in disrepair is an invitation to allow continued deterioration, littering, less thorough cleaning by the maintenance staff, on and on."
Standard for a rich school districts, for most schools it's reused old buildings and temporary trailer classrooms
ReplyDeleteare there classrooms there??? show me a classroom!
ReplyDeleteI-)
The colored words at the end are what's called a "link" where you can view additional photos.
DeleteBefore they build that much infrastructure, I hope they are paying their teachers adequately. This seems unlikely.
ReplyDeleteHere are the numbers:
Deletehttps://jobs.teacher.org/school-district/verona-area-school-district/
Average about $50-60K for kindergarten through high school teachers. I have no idea how that compares nationally.
I just can't help but wonder what a tiny fraction of that school's budget could do for the average Boston public school, where they don't have the budget for a social worker, let alone three vehicle lifts and a digital music lab.
ReplyDeleteThat's about the same cost of two Texas High School Football Stadiums…
ReplyDeleteMuch nicer than the school I attended some fifty years ago. I don’t resent the luxuries. I would guess the people who live in this district put a high value on education. I wish this were the norm everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty impressive looking -- I've never seen a school with a reception desk, but it is a good idea, in that someone's looking directly at the front door and seeing who's coming in. I wonder if there's a door security system where people need to be "buzzed in" except for in the morning when everyone's coming in at once. I kind of hope so. I don't particularly care for the weird desks in the classroom -- they seem LESS easy to configure than plain old straight edged ones, but hey, that's easy to fix. My only other concern would be the noise level in the cafeteria/gathering area. With all those hard surfaces, doesn't it seem it would become deafening?
ReplyDeleteThat's about what I expected.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like an excellent facility. Cost per square foot is one way of comparing new builds of similar type and scale. So is cost per occupant. There is evidence from the UK that, once a school building is large enough and in good repair, that further expenditure on infrastructure doesn't greatly contribute to educational achievement. After that point, it's quality of teaching and family environments that make the biggest difference. But sometimes a new building is needed and, in that case, the cost premium of excellent over good may be affordable. Still, in general terms, spreading budget around to keep buildings in good shape plus focusing on teaching and social issues tends to be a good policy.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the "mall-type" high school I attended in Tampa (Jefferson High--Go Dragons!). While I don't know the science or psychology behind it, there is something about new schools and new books and new notebooks, etc., that makes us want to do our best.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I would start school each year how I would have a fresh notebook. Yes, after a while, I had marked it all up and the such. But by starting with aspirations, it often continues through the year, I think.
This school is probably far fancier than it needs to be, but, well, kids are worth it. Alas, I dare say that this school is not one that is predominantly Black. Why? Because, sadly, it seems those schools--and their children--somehow get overlooked in a big way.
Worse, I think that sometimes it is so noticeable to the kids that they begin to ensure that a school never fully recovers. They deserve better.
Isn't this where Epic is? Perhaps it is the result of a buttload of Epic money
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly where the Epic headquarters is located. I don't remember the timing re the school proposal and the move of Epic. I don't know if there is a way that Epic could have funneled $ into the school construction. I rather suspect the community pushed through the school funding as a lure for companies like Epic to relocate here.
Delete