Focus on TUSD - September 2007

New Mary Meredith School Scheduled for Completion in September 2008
Next year, for the first time in its nearly 20-year history, the Mary Meredith K-12 School will have a permanent building for its students. A new $1.8 million multipurpose building and courtyard at 755 S. Magnolia, built with voter-approved bond money, will be ready in the fall of 2008.

The 425-day project began Aug. 1. Since classes began two weeks after that, not a day has gone by without students and staff peering through the flaps in the canvas encircling the construction site to watch the progress. "We're all enthralled with this," said Principal Sabrina Hallman. "This is going to be so exciting to have our own building. We're all thrilled - parents, kids and teachers."

It's been a long time coming for this school, which educates a unique population. Mary Meredith's traditional mission has been educating severely emotionally disturbed students in a small setting. It now also accepts cognitively impaired students prone to aggression. This year, the enrollment is just 47 students taught by seven educators.

The campus for these students now has one multipurpose room and 11 portable buildings joined by snaking sidewalks in a busy area of the city. Those buildings include offices, classrooms, the library, computer lab and restrooms. The school's multipurpose room, completed in May 2006, will be an integral component of the new campus. It was not financed by bonds.

Hallman said architects designed the new 14,500-square-foot building using staff recommendations. The rectangular structure with a central courtyard will have only one door, allowing staff to track student movement. For safety reasons, the building will be set further back from the street. Each of the 11 classrooms will have a separate restroom and stained concrete floors.

Hallman said the building is expected to be ready in late September of next year, but she hopes it may be finished ahead of schedule for the start of the 2008-2009 school year. An athletic field will cover the area where the portables once stood, featuring a grass field, basketball courts and tetherball.

The Mary Meredith School began as two earlier programs and took its current name a decade ago. It was named for Mary Meredith, who was the first TUSD director of special education.

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations