After two weeks inside the new Montezuma-Cortez High School, the reviews are mixed among teachers and students.
In a limited six-question survey, students and teachers agreed that the windows in the new earth-friendly, modern two-story 152,000-square-foot building were a positive addition, and one respondent commented that the natural light and views were beneficial.
On the flip side, most complaints seemed to focus on the use of carpeting inside classrooms. Noting that food wasn’t allowed inside classrooms because of the carpeting, several students grumbled that they didn’t have time to eat lunch and attend club meetings or tutoring sessions, which are held during the lunch hour.
Serving as a student representative to the Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 school board, junior Samantha Baggee said she hopes to conduct additional student and teacher surveys during the academic year.
“I hope we get a little more communication between the students and the school board,” Baggee said when presenting the survey results to officials last week.
One future topic of interest she has identified is the school’s new health center, which is scheduled to open in February.
In regard to the most recent survey, Baggee agreed that prohibiting food inside classrooms was the greatest detriment to overall student life, but she said the new high school’s biggest hindrance academically was a shortage of desk space.
To better promote student collaboration, officials opted to install two-student desks at the new high school. Each table includes two white boards that can be used for class work or installed as dividers during tests.
Baggee said that squeezing a third person into a desk created distractions for students and teachers.
The survey also revealed other areas of concern, including technological glitches and inadequate locker space.
Completed in July, the new school’s classrooms are wired with stand-alone Wi-Fi and equipped with lesson capture software.
Funded by a Colorado Department of Education BEST grant and local 20-year bond measure, the new LEED Gold certified school cost $41.4 million.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
