My main building is pretty old, but I'm in the new annex which is in great shape. The other part of the building is holding up pretty well, in fact, I think it has quite a bit of character. It's spiffy-clean which makes it great. I read all the time about school buildings being in such disrepair. Are things really that bad?
I sub at several different school districts. One of my favorites is (mostly) located in a tiny town south of me. When I first started working there, I would occasionally be asked to go to the 1910 building. (It had eight elementary classrooms, an art room, and a music room.) I couldn't figure out why they called it that. Then I found out- it's because the building was constructed in the year 1910! Last August, a custodian was cleaning in that building and noticed a bulge in the basement wall. A structural engineer was called in and said that the building could collapse! They had to quickly shift classroom all around. The 8th grade was moved from the middle school into one wing of the high school. Those high school classrooms were shifted other rooms - and those got shifted into smaller spaces. The 6th grade moved from the large portable into the middle school. Then the eight classrooms and art room in the 1910 building moved into the portable. The music room was moved into a storage space that the computer people had been using. The school personnel really all pitched in together to make this work. The real problem for this school is that the other buildings are also very old and really need to be replaced (except for the twenty year old high school). One of their elementary buildings in another town was built in 1941. But, they just can't get a levy passed by the voters.
The schools that I've worked/subbed in have all been in good condition. The school that I did my ST in had portables. Come to find out those portables were not structurally strong enough to support the students. When the district built the new intermediate school, they moved Kinder to the elementary school, and 3rd grade to the intermediate school. So that school is all Prek.
My building opened in 1998. We had to undergo a major renovation within the first 5 years. apparently someone skipped the "geological survey" part of the planning. Our high school--which opened in the early 70's--was renovated last year. The newest elementary school is 20 years old. I hear that a new elementary is in the planning stages.
My building is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. It's the oldest building in our district, and it is in great condition, luckily for me.
All of the buildings in my district are in great shape. All have been remodeled within the last 15 years. The high school school is adding a new wing and undergoing remodeling again. The middle school is also currently adding classrooms.
Our is ok, but starting to show its age around the edges. The main high school part was built back in the 30's, but has been updated a lot. The elementary wing, which is like an addition to the high school, was built in 1966. Relatively, it is in good shape, but it is just small, and we have no extra rooms. And it must have been a male architect, because there is no teacher bathroom on the elementary side of the building! j/k :lol:
If you could see my building you would be amazed!!! The central courtyard has a rectanglar perimeter path, with 2 diagonal paths. Winding between (and under) them is a huge Koi pond. There are lots of different species of plants. There's a huge church bell in the middle. Surrounding the building are every kind of flower you can imagine. (The President of our school is a priest. Like the other brothers and priests, he lives on property. He's an avid gardener.) The building itself is also very well maintained. It was built in the '60s, when heating oil was cheaper than building material, so it's NOT at all energy efficient. But there's no graffiti. The hallways are kept clean-- papers that are dropped are picked up. The current project, now that the classrooms are all carpeted and have ceiling fans, is putting wood-- sort of like 3-D Butcher Block tiles-- on the classroom walls under the blackboards.
My school is actually in an old mansion that was built in the late 1880's. It's in fairly decent shape, and I love all of the woodwork in the building.
I work in what I thought was one of the most beautiful schools until they built our latest one. I have 3 5 x 5 foot windows which is important to me. I have a thing about the rain. The sad thing is that our janitors do not keep it as clean as I think they should.
My building is a great deal better after Applebee's adopted us. The employees come and do manual labor every spring and fall. However, our boiler needs serious help. Within, the district there are buildings that need a great deal of help.
Our building is almost a 100 years old. Water comes in because the ceiling is separating from the walls. Plaster comes down in chunks. It's not good, but it's a Catholic school with no money for building improvements. I applied for Extreme Makeover, but it didn't work.
My first teaching job was in a school that was built in 1926. It had a new wing that was added in the 50's. The building was in terrible condition. The school district put in a bond to get a new school built 2 times before the community agreed. However that was after the superintent brought in the local new to video the jacks that were holding up one end of the building and the many other problems. We had to wear our coats in the winter when we went to lunch. It was great when we were able to move into the new building. The children really deserved this!
My building is in pretty bad shape. However, no schools can compare to some of the ones in Flint, Michigan. Almost all of them are literally crumbling down. One of their high schools is now only using 2 of the 5 floors because the other three are in such disrepair. Very sad. I had to intern at a few of the Flint schools while in college.
we are having a alot of work done this summer. The building is in okay shape though. My biggest complaint is the lack of cleaning that is done in our rooms! yuck!
