Controversy yields to Moon Area school construction
Melissa Heasley has been working during her entire four years as Moon Area Middle School principal on plans for a renovated building for her students.
"I talked about this in my (job) interview," Heasley said. So she considers the $48.5 million project that is making over the old Moon Area High School into a modern building for fifth- through eighth-graders "near and dear to my heart."
"This is my baby," said the hard-hat wearing Heasley, as she stepped carefully around construction during a tour last week of the 230,000-square-foot building, which will open in fall for about 1,200 students.
For a time, it appeared a new middle school might not be anyone's baby.
Controversy over the district's secondary buildings snagged upgrading them for years. School boards went back and forth in the 2000s on whether to build a high school or a middle school to replace a 1950s building on University Boulevard that remains in use through this school year.
A school board dominated by Democrats kicked off building a new high school; disgruntled taxpayers subsequently seated a Republican majority that began work on building a middle school. But voters ousted that board in favor of another Democratic majority in 2007. It ultimately initiated building the district's $76 million high school that opened in January 2011, and approved renovating and expanding the old high school into a middle school.
To pay for the projects and balance budgets, various school boards floated a $31 million bond issue and raised taxes four times, from 15.97 mills in 2004-05 to 21.3 mills in 2009, where the millage rate remains. The current board has vowed not to raise property taxes.
The new middle school will be about 30,000 square feet larger than the old high school on Beaver Grade Road, said Brian Fulkerson, project manager with Eckles Architecture & Engineering of New Castle.
The additional space comes courtesy of a large entrance constructed along the side of the old building; a second floor built over what was the swimming pool; and a bump out for science labs for all four grades.
Earthmovers excavated tons of soil to expose the entryway on the ground level, which brings in lots of light through large windows and, supported by two-story columns, exudes airiness.
Space and light, in fact, are twin themes of the new middle school. Classrooms with exterior walls will have more windows, which will be operational, unlike the former high school that opened in 1967 with small, inoperative windows that reduced airplane noise from nearby Pittsburgh International Airport. New cafeteria skylights and windows at the ends of hallways also offer additional illumination.
Administrators plan to emphasize math and science in fifth and sixth grades. Fifth-graders will have a total of more than 2.2 hours daily for math and science combined. Sixth-graders will have a total of 1 3⁄4 hours for both subjects.
"We're thrilled we're actually going to have (science) labs," said Elaine Mitchell, a fifth-grade teacher from Hyde Elementary School, at an April 25 curriculum presentation to parents.
Terrazzo -- flooring material consisting of chips of granite or marble worked into concrete -- some of it original to the school, will grace hall floors; all classrooms except science laboratories will be carpeted.
The interior color scheme of the building plays on Moon Area's colors of red and white. Its amenities include:
• Two dry-erase whiteboards flanking an electronic Promethean board in each classroom.
• Both large-group and small-group instruction rooms for group presentations or remedial work.
• Four computer labs, one per grade.
• A more spacious light-filled library on the second floor above the former pool area, with an area for theatrical presentations and readings.
• A cafeteria that joins the two formerly separate cafeterias on the second floor, featuring food court-style stations and a screen and projector for academic or other presentations.
• A renovated auditorium that incorporates two formerly isolated seating areas at the rear and features handicapped access and areas for people in wheelchairs to observe productions.
• A TV studio and control room, enabling both technical education and language arts teachers to expand opportunities for students.
"I think it's amazing," said Heasley of the renovated building. "It feels homey to me; it feels warm; it feels connected. This just opens up many more doors."</
