Story by ALICIA LEONARD, photos by PATRICK CASEY
DeFuniak Springs, Fla.- This past week the Herald/Breeze got a sneak peek into the progress being made at the new Walton Middle School (WMS) in DeFuniak Springs.
Director of Facilities for the Walton School District Mark Gardner took this reporter on a tour of the facilities that are quickly shaping up to be one of the crown jewels of the Walton County School District.
From state of the art security measures, to the windows of the music room being designed as a musical scale, there are special touches and very busy workmen, some 80 or more in number (at certain times twice that many) pushing hard to get the facility ready for an influx of teachers, parents and students.
The project got final approval around this time last year and much of the campus except for a few newer prior buildings were torn down, and the new school built from the ground up.
Touch-responsive screens are centered in many of the classrooms where teachers will be able to walk around freely with an iPad or other tablet and work through problems with students while the rest of the class follows on the large screen in front of them.
Security was at the forefront of design with bulletproof materials fortifying the areas around entrances, and the front office area.
A large open quad area for the students allows them to get outside, but still be protected as the space is surrounded on all sides by other classrooms and offices, but can only be entered or exited from one of the buildings.
A new cafetorium (a large room designed for use both as a cafeteria and an auditorium) will be able to serve and entertain students during lunch.
A drop-down screen above a staging area can provide entertainment for some groups helping to keep the solid acoustics to a low rumble from the 250 kids that can be served in the area during a lunch period.
Buses will snake around to the west side of the building and unload students through two sets of double doors under a covered canopy along that wall keeping kids dry and moms happy.
The front entrance is oriented towards Bruce Avenue, and the majority of public parking for visitors will be located here.
Harking back to the gyms many of their parents played in, a hardwood floor was almost finished being installed before awaiting sanding and a finish, giving the new gym a nod to the one that stood before it.
Gardner said their timeline was tight, but the contractors were being extra diligent to bring the building to “move-in” condition a few weeks before school starts. Lord & Son Construction, Inc., is handling the project for the district.
“Parents will be able to come register their children here, but we won’t be ready for a tour until a bit later. We are aiming on teachers being able to come in a week before they usually come in for their prep week before classes start. Barring any unknowns, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s going to be a busy summer to get to the finish line. But, we’ll get there.” Gardner said.
The athletic fields on the east side of the school seem to be the last phase of construction on campus. Crews were smoothing down and packing fields for cleats to dig into on an afternoon or night in the not-so-distant future. We could almost hear the crowds roar as we walked past.
To find out more about the district check out their website at www.walton.k12.fl.us, as well as look in each edition for all the news on the schools from the Herald/Breeze each week.