Some much needed renovations throughout the school had been taken care of while students and teachers enjoyed their summer vacation.

Changes include the newly cleaned and waxed hallway floors as well as the installation of LED lighting that will eventually be throughout the school

“We could have fewer lights on,” Principal Marty Straub said. “It will be about a third to a quarter of the cost of electricity compared to when using florescent lights.”

These LED lights will reduce the number of lights in half, and still make the hallways a lot brighter than they have been.

“LED lights have been implemented in the Lecture Hall as well as both Gym A and Gym B.” Straub said.

The renovation of the Lecture Hall was another huge project the school has managed to finish this summer.

“We now have new cushioned seats,” Straub said. “Some seats are made bigger to accommodate students who might need more space.

We have also have three seats where, if we need more wheelchair space, they are on a rack and can be removed to make room.”

The dingy yellow walls were painted over with white and the dark red wall was converted to dark maroon, giving the Lecture Hall a whole different color scheme.

“In addition to new carpet, for the floor beneath the chairs, we grinded down the buried rock beneath the concrete,” Straub said. “We now have a pretty cool, classy looking floor.”

Approximately $75,000 was spent on redoing the Lecture Hall.

“We tried getting this done four years ago, but back then the estimate was around $105,000,” Straub said. “We got a good deal on the lights and saved quite a bit of money by waiting until this year.”

The concession stand across from Gym A is going through some much needed construction as well.

“We’re moving the counter out so there’s more room in there,” Straub said. “The athletic booster club is doing all the work. They are donating $5,000 to get this done.”

In addition to moving the counter out, cabinets are being rebuilt and walls are being repainted as well.

Right out the door next to the concession stand, 60 by 300 feet of new concrete was recently poured for the parking lot.

“Students will be able to park on that when school starts,” Straub said. “They also fixed up some asphalt out there that was in pretty bad shape.”

Behind the school near the tennis courts, a shed had been put up.

“We put up a shed to give the music department more storage space.” Straub said. “They were renting out two storage spaces, and it just made no sense to keep doing that since we had the space here at the school.

The shed is 30 by 60 square foot and it will be a good place to store everything left over from the musical that can be kept and used again the next year.

Gym A and Gym B are both newly painted with their floors redone. The school’s track was also redone and upgraded to better accommodate runners. Other sports facilities at the school will also be expecting changes.

“The soccer teams will be kept off their practice field this year because we’re trying to get a Bermuda grass established,” Straub said. “It is durable and takes almost no water, so we won’t have to water as much.”

Eventually, Straub would like the football field to switch over to Bermuda grass as well.

“These things are really not major renovations,” Straub said. “It’s just the little things that needed to get done had built up over time.”

Straub believes the progress they have made are thanks to the building and the maintenance crew.

“I cannot give them enough credit for all their hard work and effort,” Straub said. “It has taken a lot of cooperation from teachers, coaches, kids, and community as well.”

Straub still has many ideas to help make the school an even better environment for students and staff.

“We should be doing a little bit every year, but this is our first huge effort to improve our school,” Straub said. “I hope people notice the difference.”

16fzhang@usd489.com