The Northampton Area School District Board of School Directors Monday heard an update on the district's new middle school which is expected to open on schedule next month for the start of the 2015-2016 school year.
District superintendent Joe Kovalchik said the construction of the new $47 million middle school replacing the old one built in 1969 is on schedule.
He said sixth grade teachers will start moving their classroom materials into the new facility this week.
The superintendent explained the moves for the seventh and eighth grade teachers will occur separately over the first two weeks of August. The three grades could not move simultaneously due to building and parking lot construction restrictions.
School district administrators are in constant contact with all school activities, clubs, and organizations as to the project's progress including the opening of two new all-purpose fields located on the combined middle and high school campus, Kovalchik said.
He noted an invitation-only informal ribbon cutting ceremony for the new middle school will take place on Sunday, Aug. 16 for school board directors and select officials and community members.
The reason for the soft opening is due to liability concerns over incomplete construction, explained Kovalchik, who did note an official day-long open-house is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 11 followed by a back-to-school night for parents and teachers on Oct. 14.
According to the superintendent, on Sept. 11, the district will have a grand opening for the new all-purpose field located inside the high school stadium where student athletes and band members will be honored followed by a home football game with Parkland High School.
Demolition by crane of the old middle school will occur this week in addition to the opening of one of the all-purpose fields, Kovalchik confirmed. The site of the old school will become an all-purpose activity field.
The new middle school will be home to 1,300 students and 120 staff members.
The superintendent said it would have cost just as much to renovate the old school as it did to build a new one.
The site of the new middle school, according to district officials, once contained the fourth Universal Atlas Cement Company of Northampton plant where all the cement used in the construction of both the Panama Canal in Central America and the Empire State building in New York City was produced.