Today (February 28, 2022) was the first day of school in the new Oyster River Middle School building. I enjoyed seeing the excitement, and a little puzzlement on faces as students arrived. Most are very excited about many aspects of the new building.
Surprise news: We did not open a new school today.
What is the school? It’s our community – a community of students, educators, parents, staff in facilities and nutrition and health and academic support and coaches, parents, and residents that surround students and staff. Here’s the other side: A building does not make a school.
When students walked into the new middle school building today, they are the same students as before February break. It’s the same staff that have made 1 Coe Drive, the old Oyster River Middle School building, their professional home for – in some cases – decades.
In offering students and staff the new building, we will make teaching and learning easier. Larger classrooms easier to move around in, fewer distractions because rooms are too hot, too cold, too dark, too drafty…, a much shorter walk to the gym or lunch or music without disturbing other core classrooms because of a better layout, space for world language teachers to set up a classroom instead of moving each period, music spaces that are right for our music students instead of using the cafeteria or an echo-y cavern. We have a new building that will work for our students and staff, instead of students and staff needing to make the building work for them.
Hopefully this takes some of the day to day burden away, so the whole team can focus on learning and teaching, serving students and our community.
The new building is a gem and a wonderful community resource. I’m grateful for the community support that made it possible and the tremendous work to plan, design, build, and move into the new building. I’m looking forward to the stories we tell from it about what our students and staff have achieved.
It’s still Oyster River Middle School, only better!