Friday, July 30, 1999
Ft. Thomas approves new school
Separate facility for grades 6,7,8
BY MOLLY HARPER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT THOMAS — Highlands Middle School students are getting a school of their own.
The Fort Thomas Independent School Board has approved plans for a $14 million middle school on the site of the Highlands High School parking lot.
The 65,000-square-foot, three-story building, expected to open in 2001, will house 600 students in grades six, seven and eight. It will include a media center, regulation-size gymnasium, cafeteria and a parking garage for faculty.
It will be the first separate middle school building in the Fort Thomas school system. The current middle school is part of the high school building, which has about 1,200 students total. About 365 seventh- and eighth-grade students share that space.
“This should give them some individuality,” said site-based council member Mary Peterman. “Until now, it always seemed like it was just a holding tank until the kids go to the high school.”
Each grade level will have its own floor. Each floor will have a cluster of 11 rooms with classrooms for math, science, social studies, literature and language arts, a computer lab and a room for interdisciplinary activities.
Designed for today
District Superintendent Larry Stinson said the old building, which was constructed in the 1920s, wasn't designed for the large student population or instructional techniques of today. He said the use of technology, interdisciplinary teaching and group learning in the classroom has made old classrooms seem smaller.
“A room big enough for 30 in the past isn't big enough for 24 now,” he said. “Students aren't just sitting in their desks in rows, they're up and moving, getting hands-on experience.”
School security priority
The new middle school will also be more secure. Mr. Stinson said the plans include fewer doors. Entrances to the new building will be more supervised. Surveillance equipment will be installed in the hallways.
Ms. Peterman said the parents seemed pleased with the prospect of a new school.
“Fort Thomas is usually a little slower than other areas to get behind something like this,” she said. “But I think people are getting excited.”
The architectural firm of Steed-Hammond-Paul and Cincinnati-based construction company BBL-Maescher have been working with the school district on project designs.
Total cost of the project is estimated at $14 million, but Mr. Stinson said the district will be able to pay for the new school without raising taxes.
With time allowed for the Kentucky Department of Education to approve the plans and bidding process, construction is expected to start in March. Students could be in the new building as early as August, 2001.
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