As students diligently work inside classrooms located in T-hall and U-hall, construction of the new S-wing rages on outside.
This construction provides various distractions and obstacles for many students and teachers at Carlmont.
Though some people have become accustomed to the extremity of the noise produced by the construction, many students and teachers working inside the classrooms located near the construction site have trouble focusing on class material.
Freshman Veronica Roseborough said, “The noise from the construction is especially disrupting in T-hall. Whenever our teacher is talking, we can barely hear her over the noise, even after closing the windows. It is also very distracting during tests when we are trying to concentrate and can’t block out the noise.”
The completion of the new S-wing will add more classrooms to the Carlmont campus in the 2017-2018 school year, which will benefit many students and staff members. However, the day-to-day toleration of the construction negatively affects many people.
Foreign language teacher Roberta Scott said, “On a daily basis, it is very hard to teach with the loud work being done outside my classroom. I am often forced to use a microphone to teach so that my students can hear me over the construction.”
Conditions in classrooms near the construction site are often unsatisfactory to the needs of students as well as faculty members.
Scott said, “The state of my classroom is not adequate for students to learn. Windows need to remain closed at all times to reduce noise and to keep debris from entering the classroom. There was an air conditioning system installed in my room, but it has not been sufficient for the needs of my students.”
Due to the poor conditions of the classrooms near the construction site, Administrative Vice Principal Grant Steunenberg has offered short-term solutions to dealing with the effects of the construction.
Steunenberg said, “The noise generated by the construction has a great impact on the learning environment. I try to communicate the project timelines with teachers who teach in T-hall and U-hall to let them know when there will be a greater amount of noise, and offer them alternative classrooms to use if they need to give an assessment or have other projects that require a more quiet environment.”
Though the conditions are distracting for some, many also understand the necessity of the construction and the long-term positive effects that it will yield.
Scott said, “I fully support the construction of the new classrooms in the long run because Carlmont needs more classrooms with the increasing school population. However, the daily effects that the construction causes to the quality of my teaching environment makes it difficult for my students to learn and focus.”
