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Students enjoy a semi-formal at Dallas High School during the 2007-08 school year. The school will be demolished after a new high school is built. The new school is expected to open for the 2010-11 school year.

While covering a walking tour of Dallas High School on Saturday, I saw a Powerpoint presentation on the new Dallas High School. Superintendent Frank Galicki ushered participants into the stifling hot auditorium for a sneak peak of plans for the school. I’m going to share them with you.

Galicki began with a brief history on the current school, which opened in 1961. By the late 60s, district officials realized they needed more space. An addition, commonly known as “the senior wing,” was completed in 1968. Built for grades 10-12, ninth-graders were moved into the building in 1990.

“Our enrollment is growing,” Galicki said. “Our building is limited in its capacity. We are definitely overcrowded...this building is affectionately known as a money pit.”

It will cost approximately $45 million to build the new high school. Construction is expected to begin Dec. 26, 2008 and be completed in time for the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Plans for new high school call for a three-story state-of-the-art building. Up to 1200 students will be accommodated in the instructional areas and a maximum of 1400 will fit in the auditorium. Highlights include 65 classrooms, a TV station, roof garden and a dance studio. There will be built-in secure areas, metal detectors and infrared cameras that can examine the contents of backpacks. Interactive promethium boards will completely replace chalkboards. Each student will also eventually have his or her own laptop which will rid the school of textbooks.

The school will be built in the area of the current practice football field and will be parallel to Mountaineer Stadium. A blue storage facility behind the current high school will be demolished. The existing high school will also be destroyed once the new school opens.

Obviously, I have been following plans for the new school and I wasn’t truly impressed until I saw this presentation. While it will be sad for a school full of memories and history to be knocked down, I realize the new school is necessary (especially after I took the tour of the existing one) and I’m confident the new building will comfortably provide the students with the exceptional education they deserve while utilizing the latest technology.

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