MILESTONES: JOHN KNIGHT MIDDLE SCHOOL RE-OPENS
Former Dixon High campus is now operational for first time in 14 years
Principal Kamilah O’Connor frequently remarked that Thursday was the “fifth first day of school” for her students at John Knight Middle School in Dixon.
Under the new hybrid schedule, students have returned to campus on different days since last week. Thursday marked the last set of students to enter the halls of the new middle school — a continuation of CA Jacobs Middle School — for the first time, especially given that they have not been on any campus since March 13 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of this would be enough reason for Dixon Unified School District to celebrate, but the opening of John Knight delivered one more significant milestone: the first time classes have been taught at the 455 East A St. campus since the relocation of Dixon High School in 2007.
To put that in perspective, when students last occupied the campus, the iPhone had not yet been released, teens’ preferred social media site was Myspace and the concept of “distance learning” seemed like something out of a science-fiction movie.
O’Connor, who has been standing outside welcoming students back since the first cohort returned March 18, said it has been an amazing experience.
“It has been exciting just seeing students come to JKMS for the first time,” she said. “It has been absolutely amazing.”
The campus officially opened March 18 for students in the school’s Intensive Learning Center program. Sixth-graders returned in two different groups on March 22 and 25, and two groups of seventh and eighth-graders returned to in-person learning on Monday and Thursday respectively.
Under the hybrid schedule, one group will attend in-person classes Mondays and Tuesdays and continue learning remotely Thursdays and Fridays, and vice versa for the remaining students. All students learn remotely on Wednesdays, and there are two separate lunch periods: one for sixth and seventh-graders, and another for eighth-graders. O’Connor estimates that approximately 60 percent of students have returned to in-person learning and the remaining 40 percent have chosen to continue distance learning.
While a “soft opening” schedule may not have been what was anticipated during the long process to revive the old DHS campus, O’Connor said it has given her an opportunity to greet students in person each morning.
“I’ve been able to learn students’ names,” she said.
“I’ve been able to connect with students and families in a way that typically wouldn’t happen in a typical school year.”
O’Connor also said that it has been exciting seeing sixth-graders step onto a middle school campus for the first time, and seventh and eighth-graders witnessing a larger campus than what they had at CA Jacobs.
“They just could not believe how beautiful the campus was, how large it was, how everything was new and beautiful,” she said. “They’re just excited to take over.”
That excitement has also extended to parents, some of whom attended that campus when it was still DHS.
Prior to moving to its current College Way campus, Dixon High operated out of the new John Knight campus starting in 1940, with generations of students passing through its halls and learning everything from algebra to the great works of Shakespeare until 2007. Fittingly, the new middle school is named for one of its longtime teachers and administrators at that campus, who also attended DUSD schools starting in kindergarten and also served as principal of Maine Prairie High School and district personnel director.
Knight was even present at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his namesake school a few weeks ago, and
O’Connor said that DUSD Superintendent Brian Dolan remarked that Knight was all about service to the community. In return, Knight said he saw the same thing in O’Connor.
“I was very excited about that moment to be able to meet him and to make that connection of truly being servant leaders for this site,” she said.
Following the passage of the Measure Q bond in 2016, a large amount of money was set aside to remodel the old DHS campus to serve the district’s middle schoolers.
Dolan, who also served as DHS principal at that campus for eight years, said the fact that students were returning to that campus for the first time in 14 years made the reopening of schools that much sweeter. He praised the modern design and improved functionality.
“I can’t say it’s like being on a different campus, but it is certainly like being on a whole bunch better campus,” he said. “Kids who went to the CA Jacobs campus are walking around here saying, ‘This is so nice,’ and you’re hearing the same from staff.”
O’Connor, who was hired in July after previously serving as an assistant principal in Moreno Valley, said she first got to see the campus last summer before the renovation was anywhere close to being finished. Since that
time, she said the work has moved at a rapid place.
“Each week that I would drive by or visit John Knight, something new had been built,” she said.
Among the more recent changes have been new landscaping, outdoor seating and monitors in the classrooms, which have allowed teachers to connect to their “Zoomies” at home. A remodeled large gym is complete, and the smaller gym is being finalized.
As for social distancing measures, plastic barriers have been installed around desks, classrooms are equipped with hand sanitizer stations, other stations have been set up at the end of each wing for students to pick up masks if theirs break
or are lost, classrooms are cleaned after each rotation, and no more than four students are allowed at a table during lunch. O’Connor said orientations were also held for parents so students would know what the expectations were.
“We opened our doors so students could find their way to classes prior to coming to campus so that way they’re not lost, they’re able to maintain their social distancing and they’re aware of their environment,” she said.
Dolan said reopening schools has been a great experience, and his wife even told him recently, “I haven’t seen you this happy in a long, long time.” He said these first days back have been “the most important days in the history of Dixon Unified School District.”
“It’s my encouragement to people to treat them as such and enjoy them as such,” he said. “Hopefully, somewhere down the line, people will remember them as these most important days.”
As for the old CA Jacobs campus on North Lincoln Street, Dolan said the plan was to move Maine Prairie students there starting next year.
“We’re going to give Maine Prairie a campus that they deserve,” he said. “It’s got some things to fix up, no doubt, but they’re in seven old portables over there (at Maine Prairie), so we’re gonna give them a proper home.”
Dolan also emphasized that he did not want the CA Jacobs campus to go too long without having students.
“One of the things we learned is we can’t leave buildings empty for the kind of time that this place was,” he said. “They age more quickly empty.”
O’Connor reiterated her excitement and hopes a true in-person community can be created at John Knight after being a virtual community for the past year.
“I want students to really take ownership of their school,” she said.