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Madison Crain

With trying to parking in the morning and and chaos of trying to get out the parking lot can get a bit crazy. "I would improve getting out because it's crazy. Like another place to exit," said Bennett Hall junior.

In two years the ninth graders are coming to the high school, the school and parking lot are getting a new look.

The chaos of trying to park in the morning and the rush when school is over a school parking lot is a huge part of a school. Change is happening, the school is getting an upgrade which means the parking lot is going to change. It is going to change while under construction and at the end it is going to be able to fit more cars.

There are many aspects to having a great school parking lot. Many different ways to enter and exit the parking lot. An easy way to direct traffic flow between the cars dropping off and students and staff parking. Having enough parking spaces to fit thee entire population of people driving to school. Designing the lot around the school so students and staff do not have to walk far.

“I think it’s an okay parking lot, but since we have many students here and teachers. I think we need to expand it since in 2017 the ninth graders are coming in,” junior Hunter Dall-Winther said.

During construction the back area where the buses enter and the staff park will mostly be impacted. While construction is underway teachers are not able to park back where the buses are. The teachers and staff have to park in the main lot with the students. The grass by the sign at the corner of Stillwater Blvd North and 58th North is going to be taken out and class five gravel is going to be put in creating more spaces.

[Teachers have to park with the students in the main parking lot because of construction,] Amy Carr parking and attendance secretary explained, “you have to be so many feet away from construction.”

Environmental precautions will be taken into place once the constructions starts. The environmental learning center (ELC) will not be touched during the construction. At the end of the update to the school the environmental learning center will gain a new wetland from run off that does not come from the roads. It will come from the athletic fields and the tennis courts which will result in more of a pure water supply. Since construction will begin after spring break and will go until finished hopefully at the beginning of the 2017/2018 school year construction should not disrupt the classrooms. It should not disrupt the classroom because the school is partially soundproof. That does not mean students will not be curious about that is going on.

“The kids are going to look through the window ‘oh my gosh look at the bulldozer’ or ‘look at the backhoe or look they’re breaking this ground,’ Assistant Principal Bill Howlett said.

At the end of the upgrade to the school, the school is going to look totally different. The athletic fields are going to change, the tennis courts are going to be moved back behind the practice fields. The round about for the buses is going to be moved. By the tennis courts there is going to be a lot of new parking spaces. There will also be about 100 new parking spaces added to the parking lot to be shared by students, staff, and visitors. They are also hoping to create zones in the parking lot like a zone for students in postsecondary enrollment options (PSEO), either students or staff that come in late or leave early and a zone for students that stay the whole day.

“It will be a better traffic flow . . . it will be much safer,” Howlett said [explaining why the upgrades to the parking lot will be better than what we have know.]

“Freshmen need to be up here, they deserve to be up here with the high school students they are part of the high school,” Carr said.