SOAR Magazine - Spring 2022

RENOVATION LEADS TO INNOVATION

ERECKSON MIDDLE SCHOOL CREATIVELY ENCOMPASSES SCHOOL RENOVATION WITH NO DISRUPTION TO LEARNING

BY ERIN McCANN, DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA AND MARKETING

Some amount of noise is expected when you visit

a school building during the day. The buzz of conversation from the cafeteria or the sound of collaboration in a library space would be average ambient noise on an Allen ISD campus. What you may not expect to hear is the sound of power tools in the distance while innovation and learning take place.

Ereckson Middle School is in phase three of a four-phase, 12-month renovation. This campus upgrade was approved by voters in Proposition A of the 2020 Bond Election. Ereckson is one of four campus renovations, as well as the upgrade and renovation of three wings at Allen High School.

Previous campus renovations, including the upgrade of Boon Elementary in 2021, took place over the summer months so that changes to the campus did not impact learning. This timeframe would have been impossible with the scope of the project at Ereckson.

Ereckson Middle School is 279,000 square feet and houses over 1,200 students. The full scope of the campus renovation

was too extensive to occur over the three months that students are home for the summer. Instead, Allen ISD came up with a creative plan to renovate different sections of Ereckson to minimally impact the school day while allowing the students and staff to benefit from the new design as quickly as possible.

Project planning meetings began with Leslie Norris, the campus principal, members of Allen ISD administration and Balfour Beatty Construction during the 2021-2022 school year to ensure that the phases of renovation would facilitate success.

“The Ereckson students, staff, and families have been incredible,” said Daniel Pitcock, Deputy Superintendent of Allen ISD. “They’ve been incredibly flexible as we work to replace end-of-life finishes in our building and change our learning environments to meet the current needs of students and teachers.”

One of the ways that Ereckson has made the renovation work so seamlessly is the process of relocating entire

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sections of teachers and students out of occupied wings so that the construction team can begin the renovation process.

In October of 2021, the first grouping of students and teachers vacated an upstairs wing and temporarily moved to a modular learning environment. This allowed Balfour complete access to complete phase 1 over winter break.

Upon the return to school for the second semester, Norris and her leadership team hosted a staff gettogether to showcase the beautiful newly renovated wing which includes updated technology, flexible learning and collaborative spaces, and natural use of light and space. This also provided Norris an opportunity to reveal the new Ereckson Middle School branding and logo which will formally be in effect for the 2022-2023 school year.

As the school year continues, Ereckson staff, students and families can anticipate similar movement between wings, scheduled around school breaks. Phase 2 was completed during Allen ISD’s regularly scheduled Spring Break holiday, and Phase 3 will conclude at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. The final phase of construction will occur over the summer months of 2022 and the school will open for the 2022-2023 school year as a completely renovated campus.

“I’m excited to see the students respond to the new spaces,” said Norris. “They have had incredible attitudes about the changes this year. I think teachers also appreciate the fact that we worked the phases of construction around the grading periods for easier transitions.”

In addition to the classroom spaces and collaborative learning environments, Ereckson’s renovation will include new technology and utility efficiency changes in line with other Allen ISD renovations. These changes will preserve the lifetime of the building and reduce overall utility costs.

Allen ISD looks forward to opening Ereckson Middle School for tours of the updated facility to the community once construction and renovation have been completed.

ERECKSON MIDDLE SCHOOL IS IN PHASE THREE OF A FOUR-PHASE, 12-MONTH RENOVATION. THIS CAMPUS UPGRADE WAS APPROVED BY VOTERS IN PROPOSITION A OF THE 2020 BOND ELECTION. ERECKSON IS ONE OF FOUR CAMPUS RENOVATIONS, AS WELL AS THE UPGRADE AND RENOVATION OF THREE WINGS AT ALLEN HIGH SCHOOL.

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