School ready to go, part 1

School starts on Tuesday in our new school. Within a few short weeks, we've made amazing progress in setting up our learning environment and I am PROUD of our accomplishments so far. This was last year's classroom, literally a "one-room schoolhouse." It went from this:

to this (our cafeteria / gym / math room:
Our science lab went from this:
to this (the floor is still not done, so we decided to wait on moving in the big storage cabinets):

Check out the view from my office

My classroom is shaping up, though I still have tons to do before kids show up on Tuesday. My desk is on the yet-to-be-organized list, but my books are all at home on their shiny new shelves. Whenever I start to feel too stressed, I can sit back in my comfy office chair and peruse my mighty empire of books. Ahhh...





The actual classroom remains "under construction," but we're getting there. I'll go in tomorrow to (hopefully) finish setting up the physical space. Then I can spend the rest of the long weekend writing curriculum. FUN.

My New School

Construction is ALMOST DONE on our school expansion. Last year, our charter school was literally a "one-room schoolhouse." That original room, pictured here crammed with all our junk, will be used as an all-purpose room. Gym in the morning, lunchroom at noon, and whatever is needed in the afternoon.

At the far end of our all-purpose room is the kitchen where lunch will be served. It was a storage area last year.


We hope our new science lab area will be done by next week. Let's all cross our fingers...


Here is the long view of our very large classroom that will hold about 40 students in grades 9-12. We moved in the furniture all day and I was too exhausted to even think about taking more photos. Maybe tomorrow when I go in to set up my office...

It doesn't look nearly so big with 40 workstations set up.


Close-up of the same room. My office is the door on the left, Scott's is in the middle, and the short hallway on the right leads to an extra classroom where we can take small groups of kids for seminar time, presentations, or whatever. I managed to squeeze a ginormous desk and four bookcases into my office. Now I just need a spot for the file cabinets...