Modernization moves Miller ahead
Each member of the Community Oversight Committee for the
Expenditure of School Bond Proceeds has been asked to report on the
remodeling and construction that has been completed on our schools. I
chose to report on one of “my” schools -- Joaquin Miller Elementary
School.
I attended Miller from 1938-1945. The only structure still
remaining of the original school is the auditorium. I am sincerely
pleased with the improvements at the school. The bond money has been
well spent, and the project has come in under budget.
It has been known for many years that a positive and safe school
environment plays an important role in student achievement. The staff
and parents at Miller have worked hard over the years to increase
student achievement even though the school environment was marked by
overcrowding, inadequate playground space and below-standard
buildings and classrooms. We suffered during hot weather in
classrooms without air conditioning. By adding the Kindergarten
School and movable classrooms to every available area on campus, we
managed to have a classroom space for every child, but we were still
dealing with an inadequate number of student bathrooms, outdated
office and teacher workspace, and a less-than-efficient cafeteria
area. We couldn’t help but conclude that all these factors were
negatively affecting our students’ achievement in school.
Modernization of the Miller school has changed all of this. Since
the completion of the two-story, 28-classroom addition in September
1999 and, in September 2002, the near completion of the modernization
of the 1956 school buildings, the school environment at Miller has
changed dramatically. For example:
* With the addition of air-conditioning in all classroom and work
areas, staff and students are able to work comfortably each day with
no loss of instructional time, no matter what kind of weather we are
experiencing.
* Students have computer technology available to them every day
in their classrooms as a result of the three or four built-in
computer stations with access to the Internet and both color and
black and white printers.
* Students have, in addition to the grass and sand equipment, a
playground space big enough for two kickball games, a volleyball
court, four handball courts, four-square and tetherball areas -- all
of which were not available for years because of bungalow buildings
sitting on the playground.
* We have a beautifully designed amphitheater and quad area in
which the whole student population can gather for assemblies and
recognition events. Before modernization, we had only the auditorium,
built in the 1920s, with 210 seats in which to gather one grade level
at a time. This did not allow us any space for parent-student events
such as promotion, DARE graduation or school awards assemblies.
HENRY HUNT
Community Oversight
Committee Member