The Basics and Beyond: Facilities to support a modern curriculum

Many adults would be amazed at what students are required to know these days. As the world advances, our children need to keep up, and curriculum standards have changed to ensure that students can compete in today’s world. Just think about it, the internet came into widespread use only about 15 years ago, and now it is probably one of the largest resources that our children have. By the end of the fourth grade, students are expected to be able to create electronic word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. By the time they graduate high school, they are designing files for Web pages, producing multimedia presentations, and designing page layouts using publishing and graphics software. And these are the current requirements, imagine what they will have to know 15 years from now? While technological literacy standards have increased, so have standards for what most people consider the basics — math, language arts, science, and social studies. Our high school students are now expected to perform on what was once considered a college level. The need to challenge our students with an advanced curriculum is apparent, but how does that relate to facilities? Sparta is fortunate to have some of the best teachers in our school system. However, even the best teachers’ instruction is challenged when they have to teach in a hallway or closet, which happens when the school building is at maximum capacity, as we now are. Or sometimes, a course cannot even be offered because there is simply no more space in which to hold it. This is the difficulty that Sparta High School is now facing. The population of Sparta has seen a residential development boom in recent years. As a result, school enrollment has steadily risen and is projected to continue increasing. There are now more students in the high school than there have ever been in the school’s history, even when there were five grades in the building. In fact, the facility already exceeds the state-recommended student capacity by more than 100 students. Growing class sizes and a lack of space are now impacting educational programs by limiting the number and variety of courses the district can offer. For example, Sparta High School can only offer one creative writing elective, while some other districts offer at least seven. The building must also be updated to accommodate new technology and the modern curriculum it supports. The need for more space extends beyond the classrooms. Core facilities such as the gymnasium, cafeteria, library, computer labs, and auditorium are also strained. Some students are now eating lunch at 9:43 AM because the cafeteria cannot accommodate everyone at a “normal” lunch time. These space issues are the driving force behind the upcoming referendum. The proposed high school reconstruction will address these needs and provide a facility that will support our modern curriculum. For more information, Q&As, and architectural plans, please visit the school district’s Web site at www.sparta.org.