White Bear Lake Area High School Open House

White Bear Lake Area High School

WBLAHS Community Open House 3-6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29 Those who are interested in touring the renovated White Bear Lake Area High School are invited to join us for a Community Open House event from 3-6 p.m. on Aug. 29. Stick around for our season opener football game, which will kick off at 7 p.m. It’s the perfect opportunity to see the facilities and cheer on our Bears!

Opening Events Open House for Families

Community Open House

First Day of School

Homecoming 2024

Aug. 28: 5 - 7 p.m.

Meet teachers. Main Office: schedules, lockers, parking pass, etc. Stop by Tech Depot. Find your Student Support Office and say hi. Check out College and Career Center. Visit School Store.

Aug. 29: 3 - 6 p.m.

Self-guided tour. Visit School Store.

Sept. 3: First Day of School for Seniors.

Sept. 4: First Day of School for Freshmen Sept. 5: First Day of School for Sophomores and Juniors

Oct. 6-12: Homecoming Week Oct. 6: Bounce House Carnival, 4 - 7 p.m. at WBLAHS Main Entrance Oct. 11: Parade, 4:30 p.m. in Downtown WBL, and Football Game, 7 p.m.

Oct. 12: Homecoming Dance, 7 p.m. at WBLAHS Field House

First Home Football game Aug. 29: 7 p.m.

Varsity Football game at WBLAHS Stadium.

“The pride and support our community shows for White bond request approved by voters to address district-wide building needs Bear Lake Area Schools is truly of voters in the district voted yes remarkable. Residents, both the grades the new unified high school will serve current and former, share a deepsquare-foot addition and renovations to create a comprehensive high school rooted connection to our district. acres of site development Throughout our district’s long square-foot classroom addition history, countless stories have square-foot athletics addition surfaced, each highlighting the square-foot auditorium addition profound difference we’ve made in square-feet of existing building renovations our students’ lives.” basketballs can fit into the new Galvin Court

BY THE NUMBERS

Dr. Wayne Kazmierczak White Bear Lake Area Schools Superintendent

Wold Architects & Engineers strives to understand your community’s unique objectives and delivers incomparable value and service—not just a building.

We are grateful to have worked with the City of White Bear Lake on the Public Safety Building Improvements!

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326 million 57% 9-12 375,000 82 250,000 92,000 37,000 216,000 Over 300,000 $3.6 million in energy cost savings over the next 40 years from the solar-paneled roof

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White Bear Lake Area High School

1970 The school district decides to add a second school.

School district begins a strategic planning process that leads to the development of a comprehensive facilities plan. Kraus-Anderson Construction Company begins a construction timeline while Wold Architects and Engineers is selected for the design.

Mariner High School opens, their team is the Mariner Dolphins. Only sophomores and juniors attend for the first year.

Land is purchased to become a new high school. The site was where Central Middle School now stands.

The construction plan is five years.

White Bear Junior-Senior High School graduates its first class—a class of 10.

The first class graduates from White Bear School—a class of one.

The student’s name is Francis Whitaker.

2018

1972

1913

2022 2020

November: ISD 624 residents pass a bond referendum to improve facilities in the school district. The White Bear Lake Area High School project is funded.

1983

Nineteenth and 20th Century dates provided

by White Bear Lake Area Historical Society.

1896

December - May: The construction team hosts userinvolvement meetings, receiving input from highschoolers, building staff and community residents.

SPECIAL PULLOUT SECTION

April: The Facilities Planning Committee presents its suggestions to the board with intention to unify the high school.

White Bear High School and Mariner High School merge to become North and South Campus, respectively, of White Bear Lake Area High School.

1919

20192020

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White Bear Lake Area High School

SPECIAL PULLOUT SECTION

The stadium is completed.

COVID does little to deter the facilities planning and design.

The construction team presents the new high school floor plan inspired by sailing, islands, coves and tree canopies.

April: The construction team presents detailed interior for the new high school.

June 15: Construction begins

2021

2019

2023

2024

January: Community gathers for “Circle Back to North Campus” event. At the start of second semester, 9th and 10th graders move into the new building addition and the original building portions are closed for renovation.

October: The construction team announces that the high school is 85% complete, and that nearly all of the 62 trade partners are on-site.

October: The WBLAHS Performing Arts Center, capable of seating 850, will be ready to use.

December: The first home basketball game will have a formal ceremony to name the main gym “Galvin Court” after Jim Galvin, a long-time coach, teacher and community member.

April: The construction team announces that the main gymnasium has been finished. Flex furniture is also being installed.

June: 9th and 10th graders move out of temporary space in preparation for grand opening.

August: The construction team announces that, despite six inches of rain above average for the season, all targets have been met, and the school will be ready for its grand opening.

2024

White Bear constructs new habitat for students

BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“School is different these days,” states Partner at Wold Architects and Engineers Sal Bagley. When she and her project partner Paul Aplikowski began the design phase of the “Building our Future” Facilities Planning Process, a group of staff and students asked for designs that centered around one concept: flexibility. “We were very conscious of student agency,” Bagley states of the school’s design, “It was function CONTACT US TODAY 320.252.3000 first… It’s had a huge impact on how Installation - Replacement - Service users feel.”

At the same time, Bagley and Plumbing Aplikowski wanted “a way for the building to be one-of-a-kind. We went with imagery unique to the St. Cloud, MN Heating www.weidnermech.com www.weidnermech.com community.” The concept, then, revolves around islands and coves that 320.252.3000 students sail to through pathways, Air Conditioning Commercial • Industrial charting their own course. Bagley Residential emphasizes, “It’s open, welcome, and Ventilation 320.252.3000 Installation - Replacement - Service invigorating—not white-painted, concrete-block walls. When someone Installation - Replacement - Service goes inside, it’s a space they want to Installation - Replacement - Service The Union not only serves as the school’s cafeteria, but it also contains a student-run Plumbing spend time in.” coffee shop titled “School Grounds.” A student-run school store is located nearby as well.

Plumbing Emergency Commercial • Industrial • Residential Ser vice 24/7 The following are just a few facility Plumbing ia 320.252.3000 Cloud, MN features students will be able to use Heating weidnermech.com idnermech.com Heating come the first day of school: Installation - Replacement - Service St. Cloud, MN S t . C loud, M N Heating

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The Union (and School Grounds)

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To call the Union a cafeteria is to limit it. White Bear’s central social S t . C loud, M N St. Cloud, MN gathering space serves lunch, yes, www. weidnermech.com www.we idnermech.co Ventilation m Air Conditioning but with vast ceilings and stairs CONTACT US TODAY Commercial • Industrial that can double as stadium seating, Emergency • Residential Emergencyvice 24/7 the Union is where every student Ventilation rcial • Industrial • Residential Ser viceSer Residential 24/7 will want to gather. It helps that the Commercial • Industr Emergency space is gorgeous to look at. Assistant

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Superintendent for Finance and Operations Tim Wald praises the “gigantic sails that double as acoustic control, steel beams that replicate sailboat rigging, and terrazzo floor that replicates water lapping up on the shore.”

Wald also highlights the studentrun coffee shop School Grounds.

“Students came up with the idea, were challenged to design it,” he says. “Ms. Lamwers was their advisor… They sought out donations for equipment and they were going to open it in March of 2020…and then it was delayed. So the younger students were around to see it through, and that student idea is what brings that to our high school today.”

Learning Studios

Each student will spend much of their school day in a “learning studio,” a breakout space with shifting boundaries based on each teacher’s needs. Each studio has flex furniture that provides different types of seating or standing options to accommodate a child’s learning style.

Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Dr. Alison Gillespie states, “A guiding principle through the facilities work has been making the big spaces feel smaller.

One example of how we’ve done this has been through the use of Learning Studios in the new addition. When students enter a studio, that space becomes their ‘home’ with multiple adults supporting them.”

“Think of each one like a house or pod. Instead of 50 or 60 of the exact same room, there’s a parade of different activities. It’s more physically open, helps break down size of the school,” explains Bagley.

Principal Russ Reetz elaborates, “What does the studio experience look like and feel like? Teachers will not be assigned to a classroom. They’ll meet in the morning and decide within the studio, who’s using what space… ”

Wald notes, “We have several breakout spaces that are enclosed. So you have the conference rooms look like a conference room. It's really a breakout space that's enclosed with glass doors so you can be supervised.”

Within each learning studio is “Flex Furniture,” movable seating, desks, and equipment to suit each student’s needs for the day. “We were charged with enhancing the flexibility of all environments. Furniture has the highest impact. It touches the most students in all the classrooms,” comments Bagley, "Talking about student agency, it provides a variety of options. “What best meets my needs for the day? A soft seating piece?

Some still want traditional. Some want to stand and work. It provides a landscape of options.”

On a more visceral level, Bagley

that. You have some very traditional spaces and some very open spaces…

Each learning studio has one room dedicated to student support. If a kid needs to make up a test or needs a quieter area.”

reports, “It incorporates movement into one’s day as opposed to leaning back in a chair that wasn’t meant for that and tipping over.”

If this environment sounds noisy to some, Bagley states, “Learning doesn’t have to be shush-quiet. Other students can see learning on display.

Sometimes, a quiet environment is the right thing. Again, it’s all about providing options.” Wald adds, “I mean, the flexibility is the key. There are times when, you know, teacher directed activity that looks old school is appropriate. And then there are times where the teacher is a facilitator of activity in the classroom. The goal was to create spaces that would allow that kind of facilitation and to flow outside of the four walls, but also allow for all types of instruction. So those learning studios really provide

PHOTOS BY WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA SCHOOLS | CONTRIBUTED

The auto bay is one of many “coves” and “islands” that highlight White Bear’s Career Pathways program, designed for students interested in a specific field.

Career Pathways “White Bear already had robust programming,” says Bagley. “Now they can do it in a space with purposeful design.” Each handson area—whether cooking, art, science, or mechanics—is an island that passersby can walk all the way around.

Career Pathways Coordinator Katy Olsen says, “The students are really in a special place to have such innovation at their fingertips, taking many forms throughout our Career Pathways

program and career and technical education course offerings. WBLAS has always placed a strong emphasis on hands-on career immersion, and now students have state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and technology to give them the most real-world experience possible without ever leaving the building. It’s also been exciting to have our Career Pathways industry partners support and provide input on these new spaces.

Our industry partners are equally excited about these new facilities and the opportunities it’ll provide for collaboration and involvement with students!”

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White Bear Lake Area High School

SPECIAL PULLOUT SECTION

White Bear’s grades 9-12 high school roars to life

PHOTOS BY KRAUS-ANDERSON AND WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA SCHOOLS | CONTRIBUTED

This is a historic moment for the school district and the greater White Bear Lake Area community. For the first time in more than four decades, all ninth through 12th-grade students will attend classes at a single high school building this fall. This significant change was made possible by the community’s support for a $326 million bond referendum, a milestone in state history when it was approved in 2019.

Meet the Principal Player: Russ Reetz

BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Incoming students and their families will have their first encounter with Principal Russ Reetz during the backto-school events, his face as fresh to them as the new building, Russ Reetz but White Bear Lake Area High School’s new principal has already been working with staff and administration for a year!

“We understood how complex it would be to combine those two schools…” said Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Tim Wald states, “The buildings had completely different DNA… and now we're bringing all that together. The complexity

of finishing the building required us to have that principal on site who could help us help direct the finishing touches.”

Reetz heard about the position when he was an associate principal at Eden Prairie. “As I started to do more and more research, the district's mission and core values aligned with [mine], so I decided to apply for the position,” he said. Wald feels that Reetz has “got a terrific amount of energy. He's inspiring in how he presents his vision for the school.”

That vision, however, was initially met with an unforeseen frame of mind.

“I wanted to harness the excitement of opening a new building. But much of the staff was also feeling a large sense of loss…” Reetz shared, “I had to learn pretty early on to honor that sense of loss…

All of the good things that existed from two separate

sites, we're trying to bring over, but at the same time, we are creating our new culture.

We're not really adopting [North] or [South].”

For this reason, Reetz refers to this past year on special assignment as “a blessing.”

Referencing past experience with principal transitions, Reetz has seen the challenges of meeting an entire new staff, implementing new systems, and making changes… So when I walk the building on the first day of school, I have an opportunity to continue to get to know students… I can dig into the

actual work.”

Reetz believes the work for this upcoming year is getting each student to say “yes” to the following three questions: Q. Do I belong here?

A. “The first 60 days of school will be a large focus on… how we're going to operate as a 9-12 high school—how we treat each other, how we greet one another, the connections and the relationships created in different areas of the building,” Reetz reveals, “I felt like I was at my best when I felt a strong sense of belonging, when I felt a deeper connection to what I

Scan to view video from Principal Reetz

was doing or learning.

We provide the viable curriculum… but I also want [students] to lean into relationships and find what they’re passionate about... ‘charting their own course.’”

Q. Is this meaningful?

A. “The second 60-day segment of the school year, we’re really going to focus on the purpose, connecting learning targets to students…” Reetz elaborates, “It speaks to those projects that stoke curiosity. That provide a meaningful experience.”

Q. Can I do this?

A. Reetz concludes, “And then the last 60 days is our ‘land the plane…’ We want to ensure that students understand that they can do high school, and they can do it well. They can figure out who they are and what's possible.”

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GO BEaRs!

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PROUD TO BE ON THE DESIGN TEAM FOR THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL!