Openness is the biggest feature the two new high schools will have, according to Rider administrators who were able to tour the buildings a couple weeks ago.
Assistant principal Troy Farris, who was recently assigned to Legacy, was among those who visited Memorial.
“I found my visit to the campus very impressive, I think students will like the new buildings, they’re very open with a lot of space and natural light,” Farris said. “There’s not really the enclosed halls that we have here.”
The campus sports many new bells and whistles, including one large eating area instead of a cafeteria and student center like what Rider has now.
“The library will also be in that area closer to the front door instead of in an enclosed room,” Farris said. “On the second floor you can actually look down to that part of the building, which obviously we don’t have here. There’s open hallways, more lighting and of course the whole building is gonna be air conditioned, and our halls aren’t air conditioned.”
Fellow assistant principal Michael Forney, who will be an assistant principal at Memorial, also took notice of the more open floor plan the new school boasted.
“There are so many new features the schools have, the main concourse of the school, it’s so huge and just so open, there will be a cafeteria serving line, so a little bistro there and there’s a courtyard where students can eat,” Forney said. “It’s an enclosed courtyard, so it’s not like anybody can leave from there. Upstairs from there is an art balcony, so the art classes can draw outside for a lesson.”
Forney’s biggest takeaway from the tour was the deliberateness with which the school has been built.
“I think the one thing that really stuck to me, and what we talked about as an admin team, the word intentional really came up, just because everything in the building is built with a purpose in mind,” Forney said. “Being in this building, there’s parts and places that we’ve repurposed, but everything in that building is really intentional. We actually toured Memorial, which is a couple of months ahead, but Legacy has an identical floor plan, it’s an identical layout, the only difference will be the accents based on the school colors.”
What was also particularly impressive was the scale and new facilities that accompany the new buildings.
“It’s big, really lengthy,” Farris said. “It has more gyms, here we have two, it has three, it has a flexible auditorium, it has a lot more flexible space than what we’ve been used to.”
Some of the admin were taken aback by the dramatic differences between the current campuses and the ones under construction.
“I think seeing it was kind of shocking, it took some time to process, because it’s so different, so new, so modern compared to what we’re used to,” Forney said. “I think that was the big thing, it takes time to process things. Even being in the new school it’s going to take some time to get used to.”
The district anticipates Memorial will be completed by March, while Legacy is expected to be finished by May.
