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Natalie Karlsson

"Many of the rooms were not up to safety standards," Principal Karen Calcaterra said. "Now, they're looking a lot better."

Starting near the end of the 2016-2017 school year, the majority of the science rooms were closed for renovation. However, despite the Rockwood School District (RSD) funds that were allocated, there are still some issues that resulted in those renovations. The old rooms were showing their age as time went on, as Lafayette had the oldest science rooms out of the four high schools in RSD.

“The science rooms were not conducive to teaching and learning for the current science curriculum,” Principal Karen Calcaterra said. “Many of the rooms were not up to safety standards.”

One issue was a belief that the eye wash stations were not in working order. If someone happened to get a chemical solution in their eyes, the eye washers would not actually “shower” the injured student.

Another problem students probably have noticed are the chairs that can be heard on first-floor classrooms.

The project started in March 2017 and was completely finished in October 2017, two months after school had resumed.

At the beginning of the project, Principal John Shaughnessy was in charge until his retirement at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. Then, it was up to Calcaterra to take charge starting in June.

“We also worked with our district facilities team and a construction management team,” Calcaterra said.

Most of the issues in the rooms have been addressed to the contractors, although not all have been fixed.

Science teacher Maria Marasigan’s room, Room 237, has noticed a slight incline in the floor of the room and issues with the volume levels of the intercom speaker.

“My rolling lab drawers roll randomly across the floor down the slant,” she said.

Other issues that have been noticed throughout the rooms were leaking taps, drawers that won’t close completely and faulty sensors in the HVAC systems, which has led to numerous unexpected fire drills.

Although Marasigan’s location of her classroom didn’t change, she now has the ease of not having to switch rooms to complete labs.

“It’s nice not to have to move rooms to complete chemistry labs,” Marasigan said. “I may be stationed in one room, but any teacher can come in Room 237 and use the lab space and necessary equipment.”

Although there are still teachers in the science “U” wing with science and language arts classes combined, Lafayette now has the newest science halls in of the Rockwood High Schools.