Class may be out of session, but there’s plenty of work going on at Mineola schools. Students will return to new and improved buildings this fall, as the district rolls out improvements to the middle and high schools.
“You’ll be hard pressed to recognize the high school,” said Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler. “We’re getting to things that haven’t been done since the school was built almost 60 years ago.”
The installation of a new turf field at the high school is almost complete and Nagler said it is anticipated to be ready for the opening of school on Sept. 1. The field, which is used mostly by the girls’ soccer and lacrosse teams, is made of “coolfill,” green plastic pellets, and has been widened to take up as much space as possible within the track (which goes from property line to property line).
New lights have been installed in the high school lobby, and new lockers are set to be installed throughout the entire building this week. Renovations are also being made to the music room.
“Having a state of the art facility is really exciting for our students to be able to experience,” said high school principal Dr. Whittney Smith. “Staying on the cutting edge is important and giving our students top notch facilities will help them in everything they do.”
A new “fab lab” is also being constructed at both the middle and high schools. The room is a combination of a computer design space, metal and wood shop, furnished with state of the art equipment.
“It will teach kids the current technology and have them be able to design and produce things they were never able to do before,” Nagler said. “There’s an ongoing ‘maker’ movement in the country that really speaks to kids designing their own work and entrepreneurship goes with it. It’ll showcase what we can do when we tie making and coding together.”
Work is also underway on constructing a new bus loop and sidewalks in front of the middle school, which is anticipated to be done by the beginning of school.
A plan to spend capital reserve funds on building additions and the athletic turf fields at the Hampton Street and Mineola High schools was approved by residents last November. However, Nagler said work at Hampton—which includes a new cafeteria, classroom addition, a bus loop, concession stand, running track and field lighting—is at a standstill pending approval from the New York State Education Department.
“Nothing can begin until we get that,” Nagler said, noting lack of staff at the state-level had caused delays. “It’s been longer than we anticipated. Once we get approval, we need a month to BID the project. Then we can start the work as appropriate.”
