Summer is coming to a close, which means students will soon be heading back to school for another year of learning and preparing for the real world. While the new year is exciting for most students, middle school students in the East Syracuse Minoa School district have something very exciting to look forward to — the reopening of Pine Grove Middle School in East Syracuse.
In December 2014, voters approved a $29.4 million to renovate approximately 118,000 square feet of the building and add about 12,000 square feet to the building that was originally built in 1969.
While it’s not an ideal situation that middle schoolers had to be displaced during the two-year construction period, it was well worth it. This renovation project expanded hallways to make more room for students, updated the facilities to be able to accommodate new technologies and learning models, made the facility more sustainable and brought new equipment for students involved in music, athletics, family and consumer science and technology courses to learn skills that might not be taught in traditional classrooms.
It’s important that our school districts stay on top of capital projects in order to provide the best education possible for students in the area. Updating and expanding the facility helped bring this aging building into the 21st century. Our school districts are there to provide the best education possible to the younger generation so they can be inspired to go on to do great things. It is also important that teachers are able to work in facilities that allow them the opportunity to accommodate the learning styles of all students and remain relevant in the ever evolving world of technology. The fact the ESM School District is able to successfully update this middle school facility reflects well on the focus of the community.
The Greener, Greater Grove project was also successful because it was able to stay within budget and construction went as scheduled to open on time. Although nearly 75 percent of the project’s cost was covered by state aid, the taxpayers in the ESM School District can be proud of the facilities their money went toward that will help educate and direct the lives of young students who go through Pine Grove’s doors.
