While everyone’s sights were trained on the much-anticipated opening of Niverville’s new high school, the staff of Niverville Middle school (NMS) were busy with their own agenda: creating a new look and culture for students returning to Grades Five through Eight.
Big things have been happening here and will continue to happen throughout the coming year.
For one thing, since the high school transition cut NMS’s enrollment in half, the portable huts on the west side of the school are slowly beginning to disappear.
The huts on the east side will remain for now and will be put to much-needed use. Four portable learning spaces are still functioning as everyday classrooms, whereas the others provide space for storage rooms, spare classrooms in anticipation of possible interior renovations this winter, and instruction space for a literacy/numeracy teacher. A learning coach, Brett Schmall, has been assigned to NMS by the Hanover School Division.
In just two years’ time, Principal Mike Koester anticipates a small surge in Grade Five enrolment, at such time some of the huts will see use once again as classrooms.
For years the school was so cramped that classes overflowed to the neighbouring Son City youth centre. Hallways were congested with students, and lockers and programming were limited as staff struggled to deal with the large numbers of students.
But that’s all changed.
“We all have a parking spot now,” says Koester. “Every staff member. We’ve never had that luxury before.”
Over the course of the summer, much-needed renovations took place inside the building. Many lockers were removed and others were replaced with newer models. Hallway floors were retiled, creating student corridors that feel wider and brighter.
One classroom along the Grade Seven and Eight corridor has been transformed into a new mobility-friendly girls washroom.
A large windowed exterior door with mobility access has been installed on the south wall immediately next to the gymnasium, providing more natural light to the once dark corner. Koester says this was high on the staff’s wish list, as it allows easy access for students to get directly to the greenspace outside without circling the building and crossing parking lots to get there.
New fitness equipment has been obtained for inside the gym, including exercise bikes and a rowing machine.
But it’s the Learning Commons, once known as the library, that has seen some of the most significant changes. The temporary wall that for years divided the Commons from a classroom has been removed, creating a large, bright, and welcoming space for students to gather. The former classroom has been transformed to include active space, with a Lego wall, arts and crafts tables, and a large collection of board games.
“One of the things that’s really taking off right now is board game club,” says Koester. “We do that every Tuesday after school, and so we’ve been buying board games for that… We’re trying to build community… so kids from Grades Five to Eight can come in here and be together.”
New furniture is arriving daily, including a new librarian desk and innovative Hokey chairs and rockers for kids who need the freedom to move around while sitting. All of the furniture will be light and easily movable in order to set up special events, such as author readings for large groups of students.
But where some schools are cutting back on their library book collection, NMS still believes in the importance of access to books for personal reading. Once per cycle, each class spends time in the library section signing out new books to take home.
Slowly, as funding allows, classroom equipment is being upgraded, too. New desks are coming in which provide different seating options; some are low whereas others allow students to sit higher up. Projectors are ceiling-mounted and whiteboards surround all four walls in many classrooms so teachers can move to a vertical learning style, instructing from any area of the room.
The school now houses enough Chromebooks for about half the students. Teachers can check them out for their classrooms as needed.
Like most schools these days, technology is being embraced in all forms. Students of NMS are not discouraged from using their cell phones at school. During break times, students stand at their lockers or spend time in the common areas checking messages on their devices.
Each teacher is allowed full autonomy on how they deal with cell phones within the classroom. Some of them provide drop zones where kids deposit phones before the class starts and collect them at the end. Others simply anticipate that students will respect the school’s policy of no phone use during instruction time.
“The kids have really bought into it,” says Koester, adding that they’ve had few issues so far.
But there’s far more to creating a happy and productive middle school setting than just aesthetics and function. New programming is high on the list for the staff as well.
To build community between the various grades, and to promote a strong school spirit, a house system has been developed, assigning different colours to each homeroom.
Weekly activities take place around those colours, like Coloured Shirt Day, an opportunity for students to represent their house, and themed treasure hunts. Awards are given to each house based on their participation. By combining 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A into one house, for example, a camaraderie begins to develop between the different age groups.
Because music instruction has always been a big part of the school’s focus, Grades Five and Six classes will get firsthand experience with recorders and guitars. After Christmas, band instruments are introduced to prepare them for the band option in Grade Seven.
The band program is still alive and well, too. Until the completion of the high school’s music and drama room, NMS’s band room and music instructor will be shared by both schools.
For NMS students not interested in the band program, the school has turned one classroom into an arts room. Here they have options for art, guitar, and photography lessons as well as IT coding and robotics.
In order to incorporate as much physical activity during the school day as possible, a team of staff have organized themselves as active play coordinators.
A fitness program runs for all students three out of every five days. The gymnasium is set up with circuit training equipment and students are provided a special electronic watch that allows them to monitor their own progress. Regular intramurals also take place in the gym during lunch periods.
As well, twice per cycle, teachers are encouraged to incorporate active play into their regular class times. Homeroom teachers take their students outdoors for cooperative games.
“We now have enough space to have physical activity every day for all of our kids,” Koester says about gymnasium availability.
Even the school’s basement has been put to new use. It used to serve mostly as storage, but the school has now established it as a lockdown area where students and staff can collect in times of emergency.
“Besides ten fire drills, we have to do two lockdown drills a year and one tornado drill,” Koester says.
Plans are being made for the hardscaped area that will be left behind once all the westerly huts have been removed. Koester investigated various ideas over the summer months and believes that the concept of an outdoor classroom would be well-suited here.
With the introduction of woodchips and decorative rocks, a welcoming setting could be created for instruction periods in sunny weather. Or it could just serve as another outdoor space for students to gather.
While he hasn’t received official word, Koester is also hopeful that the science labs will get an upgrade this school year. Much of the equipment dates back to the school’s origins in the early 1960s.
To commemorate the middle school transition, a large mural was painted by students last spring. The tribute wall bears the signature of almost every student before the transition and will serve as a lasting memory of the building once known as Niverville Collegiate Institute.
“We’ve done a lot of heavy lifting with getting this going in order to be a middle school,” says Koester. “Some of the projects aren’t complete, but it’s the same thing as building the middle years culture. It’s not something that will happen overnight. It’s going to evolve.”
Koester reminds NMS parents not to drop their kids off at school too early. Less staff on hand now means less supervision before and after school hours.
