WCS Presents Facility Plan: Edgewood Middle School
[Editor’s note: This article is part three of a four part story discussing the recently proposed Warsaw Community School Corporation Facility Plan. This plan will be presented through a public forum from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Warsaw Community High School PAC. On Monday, Jan. 26, the WCS School Board will determine whether to put the facility plan on the May ballot for public vote]
Yesterday evening Warsaw Community School Corporation hosted a public forum to discuss a new facility proposal that would allow the rebuilding of Lincoln Elementary and the remodeling of Edgewood Middle School and Washington Elementary. The presentation, held at 6 p.m. in the Warsaw Community High School PAC, was led by WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert.
Edgewood Middle School
Edgewood Middle School was built in 1975 as an “open concept school”, an idea that was popular during its time. The theory was that if you eliminated walls separating classrooms students could simply focus on whatever teaching practice or topic appealed most to them. Though hopes were high for this experimental model, according to Hoffert by 1980 walls were springing up in these schools.
“Most of Edgewood’s problems are centered around safety and security,” stated Hoffert. “When we look at major problem areas, in a math area every passing period you have 120 students that are coming through a 36 inch door and 120 students coming out of a 36 inch door. Behind that door you actually have four classrooms…Every time a student has to go to the bathroom or has to go out to a hallway they have to go through three classrooms to get there.
“One area that we always need to talk about is something like an active shooter inside our schools. When we look at school safety one of the worst case scenarios we can have is 120 students behind one door and that is what we have in multiple areas at Edgewood,” stated Hoffert.
Due to adjustments to the school, lockers have been moved into hallways, creating a narrow and congested passageway for students. Because of cramped conditions, students at Edgewood are not allowed to carry a backpack and must carry their books instead.
Edgewood also has a variety of infrastructure issues. Leaky faucets and eroding tubing have become a concern. According to Hoffert, a science classroom recently had a gas leak after tubing in the walls eroded. The leak was fortunately discovered quickly by a teacher, but the concern over safety remains.
Structurally, the back wall of the Edgewood gym is also a safety concern. According to Hoffert, in 1999 the back wall of the gym collapsed over a weekend. Though the wall was repaired, recently architects touring the building have noted a new crack appearing through the center of the cinder block wall. This is believed to be due to a high degree of pressure on the wall.
Though an ill use of current space has cramped students and staff alike and created an awkward flow throughout the school, the size of existing classrooms, which Hoffert noted is up to double or triple what is necessary, will allow for an easy fix for the school. Hoffert noted that classrooms will be able to be split up with artery hallways created in between.
[To read about the other projects in the Facility Plan see: WCS Presents Facility Plan: Lincoln Elementary, WCS Presents Facility Plan: Washington Elementary]