Public schools across Northwest Indiana are building — and building a lot.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into new facilities for local students. Here's an overview of capital improvement projects at some of the biggest districts across the Region:
Crown Point Community School Corp.
In 2020, the School Board approved a slate of capital improvement projects. By the time those projects are complete, every school in the district will have seen some sort of renovation or addition.
At Crown Point High School, the district is adding 25 new classrooms and five science labs. It's upgrading the visual and performing art facilities, robotics lab and career and technical center. It's also updating the school's media center, widening hallways, expanding the cafeteria and adding more physical education space. Those upgrades, which will cost a total of $55 million, are expected to be complete by the end of 2024.
The biggest project CPCSC is taking on is the creation of a new $78 million building for Taft Middle School in Winfield. Construction on that building kicked off in mid-August 2021 and is expected to be ready for students by the 2023-24 school year.
The new middle school will be approximately 23,000 square feet and will accommodate up to 1,500 students. It'll have over 30 classrooms, two gymnasiums and a 750-person theater.
CPCSC is finalizing plans to bring the district's other middle school, Wheeler Middle School in Crown Point, up to the same student capacity Taft Middle School will have.
Several elementary schools in the district are receiving new classrooms. That includes MacArthur Elementary and Timothy Ball Elementary, which are set to receive 13 new classrooms each by summer 2024, costing a combined $45 million.
"I’m happy to say that our projects are all going very well and are on or ahead of schedule," said Superintendent Todd Terrill. "We are looking forward to the educational opportunities our students will have as a result of this work. Our goal is to not just expand our buildings but to also provide the best learning environment for every student.”
School City of Hammond
With around 11,500 students, Hammond is the largest district in Northwest Indiana. It has two major projects ongoing, according to School City of Hammond spokesperson Nate George.
The first is at Morton High School, where the district is renovating science classrooms and the main office; building a new main entrance vestibule; upgrading the gymnasium by giving it a new floor, lighting and sound system; adding classroom space; installing new windows; updating the HVAC system; doing work to the wellness center; and completing roofing work. In all, these upgrades will cost the district $5 million.
Hammond is also doing a two-phase project at Scott Middle School. The first phase, which will cost $5 million, will consist of new windows, an auditorium, media center, gymnasium upgrades and a main entrance vestibule. The second, which will cost $9 million, will replace the HVAC system, the electrical system and roofing.
Michigan City Area Schools
In May, Michigan City Area Schools purchased the former Brown Mackie College facility on U.S. 20 with plans to use it to address what district officials saw as two of the most pressing needs in the community, according to MCAS Director of Communications Betsy Kohn. Those two needs were affordable preschool and modern labs for career and technical education.
In that space, the district is creating five early learning classrooms and a facility for its welding, manufacturing, construction, automotive and education professions coursework. Construction on that is ongoing and will cost the district $5.8 million. Two of the early learning classrooms are set to open by spring 2023 and the remaining three by fall 2023. The career and technical education portion is tentatively set to open in 2024.
Additionally, MCAS has recently replaced the bleachers in Michigan City High School's gymnasium and made HVAC improvements across the district's buildings.
Duneland School Corp.
Duneland School Corp. is renovating all its K-8 schools, building a new elementary school, replacing Chesterton Middle School with two new middle schools and making improvements to its high school, according to district plans.
The new Yost Elementary School will be built on the school's current site. Construction, which will cost around $28 million, began this past spring, and the first phase is set to be complete by fall 2023. Due to the way construction is set up in phases, students will be able to remain on campus while construction is ongoing.
The district is pushing the school farther from the interstate and creating separate entries/exits for cars and buses. The new building will have a focus on creating more student support spaces, such as counselors' offices, calming spaces and special education services.
All the other elementary schools, except for Bailly Elementary, will also be receiving additions.
"Following renovations at each elementary school, visitors entering those school buildings will feel as if they are walking into a new school," the district wrote on its website.
Chesterton Middle School is being replaced by Westchester and Liberty middle schools, which will be on the current sites of Westchester and Liberty intermediate schools. Previously, all students in the district grades 5-6 attended one of the two intermediate schools and students grades 7-8 attended Chesterton Middle School. Now, those students will be split up between the two new middle schools. Students grades 5-8 will now be on the same campus — whether that be Westchester or Liberty — though district officials said that 5-6 graders and 7-8 graders will be separated.
"This creates a school-within-a-school concept, a strategy that is used to make a large school feel smaller to students and to separate students at different stages of physical and social-emotional development," the district wrote. "All students will have some shared spaces, but schedules will be created to ensure that a 5th grade student is not eating lunch with an 8th grade student."
Both middle schools are under construction and set to be complete fall 2024.
Lastly, Chesterton High School will see renovations and additions to its performing arts wing, a new addition on the southeast part of the building that will house competitive Robotics teams, field house expansion that will create a separate gymnastics venue and improvements to soccer, baseball, softball, tennis and marching band practice and competition venues. Those upgrades are scheduled to be completed summer 2024.
Lake Central School Corp.
At the end of February, Lake Central School Corp. will be going out for bids on their sole large project, according to Superintendent Larry Veracco. Bibich Elementary School in Dyer will be receiving a $17 million addition of 13 new classrooms and an updated HVAC system.
Valparaiso Community Schools
Valparaiso Community Schools is wrapping up a series of capital improvement projects totaling over $150 million that began in 2015 with a tax referendum approved by voters, Superintendent Jim McCall reported.
That series includes creating the new Heavilin Elementary School, which opened in 2017, as well as renovating the other seven elementary schools in the district. It also includes modernizing Valparaiso High School and creating more secure entryways at all the district's middle schools.
The work that's currently ongoing, McCall said, includes roofing projects, boiler and chiller replacements and renovation of the Valparaiso High School servery.
McCall called these projects "truly transformational."