Construction and Parking Update
Arriving at Aragon for a new year, students were greeted by the sight of unfamiliar construction. Funded by Measure M, the construction will act as an extension of several areas of curriculum.
Most notably, work on the new theatre has begun on the site where the outdoor basketball courts used to be. The construction started last December 1 and is expected to finish sometime around May of next year. There are many new additions and improvements for the new theatre, such as a formal lobby and a patio. “[We will have] a front entrance that makes an impact,” says Drama Department Director Shane Smuin.
Aragon also plans to extend science wing to allow for five more classrooms. These new classrooms will solve the issue of having to switch classrooms throughout the day for the science teachers. Two of the new rooms will be dedicated to the biotech classes.
Digital photography, which currently occupies one of the computer labs that used to be available to teachers, will also be getting a dedicated classroom in the science wing. Digital Photography teacher Aimee Reed said, “The new classroom will have a lighting studio area and a special room to lock up the cameras and other equipment, which we currently don’t have.”
Besides the biotech classrooms and the digital photography classroom, two other rooms will be built. One of them will be used by the engineering class as well as the robotics team, and the other one is being built as a multimedia room for an undetermined class.
As a result of the construction, around 57 parking spots have been eliminated. Instead of the first-come-first-serve style that Aragon employed before, this year the parking spots were assigned by a lottery. The lottery was randomly chosen by Dounia Kardosh of student services.
According to Kardosh, 109 students out of the 131 that applied received a permit. “I think it’s the only way [the administration] could have dealt with it,” says Jonathan Pan, a senior who did not receive a permit. “It’s sort of unfair, but I can understand.”
The construction of the new science buildings is expected to finish around February. When the construction is complete, ten of the parking spots will become available again. At that time, a second lottery will be held, with students that did not get a parking spot in the first lottery having priority.
Civil Improvement, if proved financially possible by the district after the current construction, aims to improve the campus in general. This project includes changes such as making the parking behind the office all diagonal instead of parallel to fit more staff, as well as adding more plants to the school. If the project is approved by the district office, Civil Improvement could start as soon as the of summer 2012.
