Students, administrators adjusting to upgrades at Belmonte

SAUGUS – The new Belmonte Middle School is starting to take shape as students spent much of the week getting acclimated to some of the updated classrooms on the first floor.The first floor of the school had been closed since the summer as work on phase one of the $18.9 million project progressed. But phase one is now finished and workers have taken over the second floor for phase two.”The second floor is closed to the kids, but all the encore classrooms opened up, music, drama, technology and engineering are back in their regular classrooms,” said principal Kerry Robbins. “There’s only a very small number of teachers that have to share classrooms.”While the entrance to the school and the layout is still the same, the classrooms on the first floor have all been painted in bright colors, with some painted blue and others orange, yellow or green.The first floor classrooms also have new windows, which Robbins said adds to the overall upbeat look of the rooms.”Just the feel of the classrooms is so much warmer and welcoming just because we’ve never had natural sunlight and never had these bright colors,” said Robbins. “You kind of walk in feeling brighter and cheerier. They’re all really bright and vibrant, and will really keep the kids alert and focused.”The first floor bathrooms are also new and, like the classrooms, are painted in bright colors, as are the new locker rooms, which are now located right next to the gym and feature changing stations, stalls and a shower. There are also teachers offices located across from the entrances.”This is all brand new,” said Robbins as she made her way through the new locker rooms. “(Teachers) have their own offices so it’s great for supervision now. The locker rooms are set up nicely and the kids are 100 percent supervised.”Robbins said Skanska USA Building and construction management firm Consigli have been vital to keeping the project running smoothly, especially when it came time for the big move from the second floor to the first last week.”Consigli and Skanska are really, really helpful,” said Robbins. “There’s bumps in the road because that’s how it goes with construction projects, but they’re right there when we call them and fix it immediately.”Robbins also said the teachers have been “cooperative” and “optimistic” while her own job as principal, which she just started in September, has been a “great learning experience.””I wear a lot of hats,” she said. “I didn’t know I would be wearing a construction hat ?”Robbins said phase two is scheduled to be completed in April. Students will then move from the third floor to the second floor as the first two floors of the school will be ready for students.”Then once school is out they’ll begin restructuring the main office and then we’ll be ready to go,” said Robbins.The new design will have school visitors buzzed directly into the front office, as opposed to the current design, where people are buzzed in then walk through part of the school to get to the office. That, along with new locks on all the classrooms and bathrooms, has given the school additional security, said Robbins.”The school definitely has a really safe feeling right now, which is nice,” she said. “Everything is more welcoming here. It’s definitely a much more friendly approach, which we’re hoping will keep the kids feeling really good about coming to school.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].