Sparkles students are creatively and meaningfully adapting to the nuances of learning with the precautionary measures of the COVID-19 pandemic in mind...
Sparkles Student Learning
Sparkles students are creatively and meaningfully adapting to the nuances of learning with the precautionary measures of the COVID-19 pandemic in mind. Many instructors are working very hard to maximize the educational experience that is being delivered to the Sparkles students.
For example, the students and staff will meet in a more isolated location at Burton and Ledgemont schools in order to limit exposure to the students attending in school. Mrs. Ashley Brzozowski, along with Mrs. Hendl, speech therapist, are able to provide one to one direct instruction to the students at different scheduled time blocks throughout the week. Mrs. Fraley and Mrs. Mccauley, occupational therapists, also play a valuable role in the instruction.
Sparkle students are also learning online through the Badger Berkshire Academy. The Sparkles are learning and having fun while doing so. The staff is proud of their accomplishments during the early part of the year.
PreK-12 Project Goes Vertical
Visible strides of construction momentum characterize the overall building project for the district’s new preK-12 school and onlookers who observe beyond the Kent State Geauga facility and the horizon of the Geauga County Fairgrounds can now see walls and infrastructure forming. With the assistance of BSHM Architects, Inc. and ICON, the new facility is coming-to-life with many of the foundational aspects of the project underway.
The foundation for the facility has been entirely poured, blocks have been set for many of the walls throughout the building and various other structural aspects are underway. Since late spring and early summer of 2020, construction activities have literally progressed around the clock.
Any number of contractors and laborers busily work onsite, with each new task completed in the process revealing another exciting step toward what looks to be a real structure. Masons are constructing the giant separating walls that outline such anticipated amenities as the new basketball courts and performing arts center. Plumbers and electricians are running conduit lines and other arterial piping just before concrete slab floors are finalized. Machines moving cinderblocks, backfill stone and gravel and lines of various sorts move quickly along to keep workers in-motion.
The next major milestone of the project will be for beam work to start, which is anticipated for as early as next week. With the structural foundation elements already in place, the steel beams will truly begin to demonstrate the exterior shape and shell of the 200,000-square-foot facility. In total, the footprint of the new preK-12 facility sits on 6 acres of the approximately 32 that the Berkshire Local Schools has leased from Kent State University-Geauga. In terms of visualizing the building, preK and kindergarten wings will be found on the extreme northeast corner of the building, while elementary grades first through fourth will be situated on the southeast quadrant of the building. Between the elementary wing and the middle and high school wings will be the Performing Arts Center, the gymnasiums, student dining area and other amenities.
The middle school grades five through eight will exist on northwestern corner of the facility, while the high school grades of nine through 12 will be located on the southwestern part of the facility. The footprint of the building is connected by several drives some 500 yards from Claridon-Troy Road. Athletic amenities are expected to be located on the far eastern part of the facility and property as well.
As a way for the community to help and support the need for some planned athletic amenities, the Berkshire Local Schools directs attention to the Prime+ Capital Campaign, and its website, www.homeofthebadgers.com, for more information.
The Berkshire Education Foundation, which is the driving force behind the Prime+ Capital Campaign is encouraging the community to see the value that co-curricular participation can cultivate among Badger students. The campaign’s focus is to raise additional funds needed for the athletic facilities, enhancements to the arts programs and other various educational components. Please take a moment to visit this campaign online.
Visit the Berkshire Local Schools website to see more updates on construction progress on a regular basis. In addition, a variety of interesting student-based stories are posted that demonstrate the innovative instruction and creating learning that is taking place at all grade levels in the district.
