By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published November 13, 2024
BERKLEY — The Berkley School District officially has begun its bond work for the school year.
Berkley Schools broke ground on Oct. 28 for this season’s bond work, which will take place at Pattengill Elementary, Burton Elementary and Berkley High schools.
At Pattengill and Burton, both schools will be getting multipurpose rooms that also act as cafeteria additions.
Superintendent Scott Francis said that the district is excited about the additions, as they’ll provide the schools with their own spaces to eat lunch.
“Over the years, the students have had to eat lunch in the gymnasiums, which has worked, but it does provide some complications to do that in regards to scheduling PE classes around lunch,” he said. “And then the sanitation challenges of bringing food in and out of a gymnasium too, as well, which we handled and did quite well, but it does provide a challenge there.
“As a former elementary principal, I lived that life of helping the custodial team and the food service team prepare a gymnasium for lunchtime, to serve hundreds and hundreds of students,” he continued. “All doable, but it was a lot of work and management to do that. So we’re excited about having our own space that includes a serving room/kitchen area, bathrooms for the students to eat lunch and acoustically, too, it would be better designed to support hundreds of students in a space to eat together.”
As the cafeteria space also will be a multipurpose room, Francis said it will be used for learning activities for larger groups of students or school bands to gather.
“It serves many purposes in that regard,” he said. “It could also be a space for our community in the evening to rent out and have available for a community event and can support that.”
Pattengill Elementary Principal Shamika Womble added that the schools will be getting renovated gyms and media centers, and new furniture in all the classrooms.
Womble particularly was excited about the addition of the multipurpose room at Pattengill.
“One of the biggest bonuses of having that space is the space,” she said. “Our building is 100 years old. So, the opportunity to have an additional space for our students to use, to have space for a bigger lunch area, that’s every day something we can take advantage of. But also (it’s) a space for our band and our orchestra to use, a space for our community, our PTA, our Dads’ Club, the Boy Scouts, just that community space that we can offer as well, a space for our parents to come and meet, a space for our community to be able to share. I think that’s what I’m so happy about, because we have been limited on space.”
The bond first was approved in 2023 for $88 million that would be used to invest in upgrades including “district-wide classroom furniture, multi-purpose additions at all elementary schools, performing arts upgrades and additions, athletics upgrades and additions, and district-wide technology upgrades,” the district’s website states.
The high school’s upgrades are scheduled to begin in spring 2025. It will be receiving a new science wing, lab upgrades, an overhaul of the auditorium and a black box theater to support the choir students and performing arts.
There also will be construction of the BEAR Complex, which stands for Berkley, Education, Athletics and Recreation Complex. It will hold a 60-yard indoor facility with a weight room and a turf field that can host competitions.
“It’s been a long process since 2015 of identifying the overall scope and needs of the district,” said Francis. “With the support of the voters from 2015 and that first bond, where we were able to tackle the first chapter of this story, and now being able to tackle this next chapter of improving our facilities so that they can match our award-winning program is exciting about the future of Berkley Schools.”