A new and improved MHS can be witnessed as the school year begins, and students  can look forward to more coming throughout the upcoming and following school year.

The upcoming project intended to fix and update all three science wings is divided into three stages: the first one having begun already, the second phase scheduled to begin in the Spring 2017 semester and the third stage continuing into the 2017-2018 academic year and potentially even the following summer.

Students who took chemistry and teachers who teach the subject have been contending with the worst of the damage, which included water and gas leaks, limited access to electrical outlets, and peeling wood on the cabinets and tables of laboratories and classrooms.       

“New plumbing-gas and water will be installed,” Science Curriculum Associate Lisa Caputo says.  Additionally, “electricity, chemical ventilation, proper chemical storage for each floor of the wing” will be updated to ensure student safety and productivity.  

Ms. Caputo explains that “new cabinets, lab tables, student seating, white boards, and interactive projectors” will be added to update the learning experience for science students.

She hopes that the renovations benefit students and teachers.  One challenge that the administration has faced is the sheer number of students the  Massapequa school district serves.  

“The new rooms will have greater storage space for the students due to new room layouts, not expansion,” Ms. Caputo explains.  The curriculum associate also hopes that “the new gas, water and electricity will hopefully eliminate many of the problems encountered previously.”

As always, the focus of this project is on the students and making the facilities better able to accommodate them in their educational endeavors.   

“Education and student learning has changed since the rooms were renovated and we hope to provide flexible learning environments for the future.”

Answering a main concern of parents and students, classes are not expected to be seriously interrupted.  Some physics and astronomy classes have been moved, but the lab tables have also been moved and should not disrupt any learning during the 2016-2017 academic school year.  

Ms. Caputo and Mr. O’Donnell, the facilities director, are the primary district representatives along with the architect and construction managers that the district has hired to assure the successful completion of the renovations.  

Berner science classrooms, like the MHS classrooms, will also be updated and the renovations in both sites are estimated to cost $2.7 million.  

It seems that students all over the district have something to look forward to, especially if they are interested in science.