The new school is 262,672 square feet in size. By comparison, floor space in all the rest of the district’s buildings comprises about 580,000 square feet, he said.

The new building incorporates technology to serve students in classrooms, science and computer labs and other areas, and features high-tech computer controls for heating, lighting and security.

Both Baker and Frazier said a public celebration will be scheduled to mark the completion of the building which was funded by a bond issue approved by voters in April 2007.

“We want to have a big community celebration, because we’re so grateful for their support,” Frazier said.

Once the new high school is completed, work will start to remodel the current high-school building for use as a junior high. The junior-high building will become a fifth- and sixth-grade center, opening up more space to accommodate growth in the district’s five elementary school buildings.

The project won’t be a final solution to district overcrowding, and it won’t allow for the elimination of four mobile classrooms currently in use, Baker said.

“We have too many teachers traveling from room-to-room and teaching in rooms that didn’t start out as classrooms. It will address that,” he said. “But the youngest grades are our fastest-growing classes.”

Tech center

Construction will start in April on a new tech center to be built near the new high-school building. Money for the $4.3 million project is coming from a state grant, which will be matched equally by a donation from the Steadley Foundation.