Before and the Projected After

Starting construction is exciting, but it can bring on a great deal of apprehension. Here at APEX, before we even started clearing anything out, we planned out what we wanted each room to look like, based on its future function. Here's a little preview of the before, and what it will all look like just six weeks from now!

The Science Lab

This was one of the messiest rooms, since it has been used as overflow storage for the last couple years. In this room, we had to clean out the trash, donate the usable pre-K supplies, remove the cubbies, paint the walls, and scrub down the shelves to be used again.

Once it's all finished, this will be the science lab. At the back of the room, we have lab tables with chemical resistant tops for students to conduct experiments. At the front, we have desks and chairs along with a SmartTV for interactive lectures and guest presentations. We also added an eyewash station for safety, and added storage along the wall to hold all the supplies that students and teachers will need to conduct their lab experiments.

The Flex Learning Space

This room was still in use as a pre-K classroom just a few weeks ago, so it was filled with all the things you'd expect: sand tables, counting manipulatives, books, art supplies ... Before we could clean it out, we donated the majority of what was in here to local daycare centers and to the EastSide art department.

This is going to be one of the most modern rooms once it's updated. The walls will all be white, and painted with whiteboard paint to make every wall in the room into a potential sketchpad for students to develop their ideas. The student seating will be a mix of mobile desk/chair units and standing tables, perfect for active middle schoolers to into a variety of grouping arrangements or to stand and move around a little more while they work with their peers. 

The Community Space

This was another active pre-K room. You can just see the open door in the back left corner, but this room has a large walk-in closet in addition to the huge classroom. Like all the others, it was full of pre-K materials that needed to be donated and cleared out. Even the cubbies are coming off the walls in all these rooms and being moved into the EastSide kindergarten rooms.

When it's finished, this room will be the center of APEX community life. At the back, we'll have tables (repurposed from the pre-K tables -- we're scrubbing them down and changing out the legs to make them teenager-sized) for students to work in collaborative groups, to eat lunch at on Fridays, and to host receptions for special events. The front half of the room is being set up with couches, slipper chairs, and bean bags (all armless, to make them last longer!) that will establish a cozy environment for reading, typing an essay or doing research on the Chromebooks, having a group discussion, or hosting guest speakers.

Stay tuned -- in the coming weeks we'll have lots more updates to share! Just 7 more weeks until this place will be filled with students!