Today's field trip was to the building formerly known as Sarah Scott Middle School, on 12th and State St. The is a 20 year old building. Nice wide halls, open spaces, computer labs, health/science labs, fully ADA compliant. It will be a great home for the offices and non-student programs that are moving in, as I write this.
Because this building is being converted from use as a Middle School to use for professional development, some retrofitting of rooms was necessary. I explored the band room - now a PD computer lab! Being a former band director, I had to take a big breath on that one.....
It was very easy to see how the room had been retrofit. There were conduit poles fit around the room, with data and electrical wires installed, so computers would have the district mandated 2 electric sockets and one data port per computer. There were 8 drops in the room, with six electric sockets and 3 data ports per drop. As the move continues, computer carts will organized around the drops.
One thing I did not notice is a drop for a projector - I would have put that in with the retrofit. I also did not notice any type of audio system.
The other concept I somewhat question is the shape of the room. I do understand that this is something that cannot be fixed, but I question the sight lines of the room, and how comfortable they will be in regards to technology use. There is a diagonal wall, with a whiteboard - I do not remember seeing a pull down screen. This was where the band directors podium would be. The other walls have the classic band storage cages installed. The walls are in the shape of a right triangle, and the drops are in the middle of the room, limiting the space computers could take, when you factor in cable length. I do not know how many workstations will be set up.
I will take a trip to this facility later this fall, just to see the finished product.
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