Muskogee students return for new year
Aug. 18—Muskogee High School students avoided construction zones, while Sadler Arts Academy students settled into new, temporary classrooms Wednesday on the first day of school.
Construction at Muskogee High School prompted some classes to move elsewhere, MHS Principal Kim Fleak said. She said the main entrance is being moved to the front of B unit, facing Shawnee Bypass. Fine arts classrooms, including the choir room and band room are being renovated and expanded.
Fleak said choir and keyboard classes are temporarily held in the MHS little theater. The little theater has a conference arena setting with long tables on levels looking down onto the stage.
Assistant choir director Chelsea Arnold said they use some of the tables for office space and for filing music.
"We are getting new carpet and electric work in the current choir room," she said. "Choir will be on the stage. Piano and music appreciation will be in the seats."
Band classes are held at the 8th and 9th Grade Academy at Alice Robertson. Students are bused back to the high school after first hour, Fleak said.
Theater classes were moved to the E Unit.
"Penny was fortunate to move back to her old room that she was in for about 20 years in E unit that has a stage in it. She's thrilled that she moved back to that," Fleak said, referring to MHS drama teacher Penny McGill.
ROTC students moved to the G unit on the west side of the campus.
Four classrooms in B unit were affected by construction and moved to E Unit, Fleak said.
"We're not sure what construction holds for our performing arts center yet," said. "That will be dependent on time frame on when construction is finished."
The school also had to move student and staff parking spaces during construction.
"We posted signage up around the campus to make sure our students know the routes to take," Fleak said. "We are allowing students to park next to the main office building this year, and mainly they park in front of the gyms."
Construction workers park within fenced areas by construction zones, she said.
Sadler moved to the newly renovated Grant Foreman Elementary while the Sadler school building is being renovated.
Sadler Principal Ronia Davison said first-day student drop-off took about 18 minutes.
"It will refine itself every day," she said.
Fourth-grade teacher Lakeya Anderson said she looks forward to having more group activities with her students.
"Last year, I was a little nervous because of COVID, and I didn't know how every student would feel about it," Anderson said. "This year, we're going to do more group activities. They really need it. They really enjoy that communal get-together and actually learning off of each other."
Davison said Sadler's annual Nutcracker ballet will be held at Muskogee Civic Center this December because Grant Foreman lacks an adequate auditorium.
Grant Foreman renovation included replacing the colorful blocks in a front picture window. The blocks had what Davison called a Mondrian pattern, similar to square paintings by 20th Century Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.
Davison said she's saving the window blocks.
"They cut them out for me and we're going to reincorporate them somewhere, somewhere in the new design aesthetic at Sadler, but they cut them out and saved them, because I begged them," Davison said. "They understood the passion behind the love of Mondrian and all the 60s babies."
