Construction is in full swing on the new Auburn City High School, which is set to be finished this coming April.
According to Daniel Chesser, the Auburn City Schools public relations specialist, the new high school will include many new features to help students succeed.
“Whether our students move on to a two-year college, four-year college or straight to work, we want to provide them with the tools to be prepared,” Chesser said.
A three-story academic wing will house core curriculum classes. It will also host career tech education classes for culinary arts, hotel and restaurant management, aquaculture and junior ROTC.
Classes in the new school will be taught with a floating classroom method to prepare students for college. Teachers will have their own office spaces and switch classrooms throughout the day instead of staying in one room.
Some other new features include a performing arts facility that will fit up to 900 audience members, two competition gyms, a competition track, a band practice field, baseball and softball fields, tennis courts and an indoor turf facility.
The new school will also have 1,100 parking spaces. This is an upgrade from the current high school’s 600 spaces.
This new building comes with a surge in growth for the Auburn school system.
“Our school system is growing by an average of 400 students per year,” Chesser said. “This building will give us much more space for the amount of students we’re taking in.” The new school will have a capacity for up to 2,200 students.
This new building will cause a shift in the school system’s grade locations. The new high school will have 10th—12th-grade students, the current Auburn High School will become the new junior high and will house 8th and 9th grade, the current junior high will become 7th grade only and Drake Middle School will become 6th grade only.
The new junior high school location for 8th and 9th graders will be getting a name change as well. No decision on the name has been made yet.
Supplies and equipment will be moved among the four schools this coming summer. The shifting of grades and buildings will be in effect fall 2017.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Gabby Dance, senior in journalism with a minor in women's studies, is the assistant campus editor of The Auburn Plainsman.
