It’s hard to fathom that we will be moving into the Fanger Center over the summer and starting the 2021-2022 school year in the new Middle School. It’s been a challenging year, but the new building is creating excitement and hope among the teachers and students.
What are the teachers most looking forward to in the new space?
The short answer is everything. They were thrilled to walk through the new building and see their classrooms and are looking forward to moving into this purpose-built school. The hallways are wide, offering spaces for students to work outside the classroom. Even more exciting, is that the rooms have breakout spaces.
These spaces are connected to three of the classrooms and offer a place for small group work or individuals to work alone. Teachers and students will gain great flexibility in learning with these spaces. Beyond this, our faculty is excited about The Commons. This area is a performance and meeting space that will include a sound and lighting system. This unique space can also be opened to the field or quad area behind the building for an open-air performance experience!
What about the students?
The students had a lot to say when I surveyed them asking,
“After touring the new building, what are you most excited about?”
- “My new classroom.” (Elizabeth, Grade 6)
- “I am most excited about the huge French and Spanish rooms.” (Grace, Grade 6)
- “All the bathrooms! Also, it’s so amazing to see it under construction! Huge thank you to all the builders! I am so excited to work in such a big building with my classmates, the middle school will have so much space! Thank you!” (Lola, Grade 6)
- “New lockers, new classrooms with breakout rooms, and art displays!” (Maddie, Grade 7)
- “The ceilings are so high! The rooms feel so open and wonderful!!!!!” (Henry, Grade 7)
- “The breakout rooms! They seem like such a good idea!” (Emily, Grade 7)
- “I am excited about literally everything! Just the concept in itself is so exciting!!! I thought seeing the new stage place was really cool– with the doors that can open when there is warm weather. It was really awesome that there were no walls when we got to take the tour also– because you could see through them. Our class also got to see the new 7th-grade room, and we were especially excited about that I think. Overall it was just really awesome that we got to see it.” (Ella S., Grade 6)
And me? What am I excited about? Everything! After the year we’ve had, and the things we’ve come through, the Fanger Center will be yet another amazing learning hub at Crossroads where we can continue to develop Strong Minds and Kind Hearts!
