The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DEKALB: New school building is filled with innovations,
McNair Middle features 21st century concepts, quirky innovations.
Inside a sixth-grade math class at the new Ronald E. McNair Middle School, a young girl is stumped on a math problem.
So, she writes the problem out on the top of her desk.
Ruining the new furniture already?
“You can write on the desks, on some of the walls, on the windows,” said principal Ronald B. Mitchell, giving a tour of the new facility. “A lot of things in here, we asked for.”
Most new schools are touted as being state-of-the-art. McNair Middle’s 170,000 square-foot building was designed to help the DeKalb County School District enhance all aspects of the learning experience.
“The 21st century demands a 21st-century learning environment, and the new Ronald E. McNair Middle School is meeting that demand every day,” Superintendent Steve Green said in an announcement for the school’s upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This school has transformed into a beacon of learning, ushering in a new era of
education for DeKalb County students.”
The new McNair Middle features an outdoor courtyard, dry-erase walls in classrooms and unusual
furniture as well as hallways peppered with seating areas and amphitheater-style seating in the main stairway.
District officials broke ground on the new building in February 2018, with plans for it to be complete by March 2019. Workers were still delivering and setting up furniture in the space in late August, during the third week of school.
Some classrooms are outfitted with garage-style doors that open up to either the hallway or the school’s outdoor courtyard, serving to quickly change an environment when used. Much of the design, Mitchell said, was done to offer teachers and students options over the course of the day.
“This is the third school I’ve opened,” he said. “It’s the first one that’s a prototype. I knew it would be dynamic, but I am overwhelmed by the looks the kids and parents make.”
One seat, called the Ruckus Chair, is slightly taller than normal classroom chairs, made of painted gray metal with a green seat and back support made of reinforced fiberglass polypropylene, and a shape similar to a boomerang. Its design allows a student to sit in either direction and move within his or her personal space without disrupting others.
Students praised the new building’s cleanliness, the campus’ vastness, the funky furniture, and being able to write on walls as well as its bright colors, saying it was more inviting than their previous digs. A few hundred yards away, workers were still getting rid of the previous building, built in 1956. While the building was still holding up, Mitchell said it has run its course.
“No matter how much you update a school, you can’t catch it up,” he said.
The new structure was built to hold 1,200 students. On the first day, Mitchell said 526 students showed up. By the end of the third week, the number was up to 850. “And they’re still coming,” he said, adding some students won’t attend their first class until after the Labor Day holiday.
The building’s construction also allowed for additional security features, including a three-step process to enter the building. It is outfitted with cameras throughout.
At the back of the campus, the championship-winning school has an AstroTurf football field and track.
“It’s just like washing your car,” Mitchell said. “You think it drives better, but it doesn’t. But that positive attitude is getting (people) in the mindset of educating our students.
“This building’s going to be a game changer.”