ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Abpve
When eighth-grader Natasha Bohannon returned to Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Roanoke on Monday, she said the week's wait was worth it.
"I love it," Natasha said. "The new school is weird, but it's nice. The entrance is on a different side of the building."
She was disappointed last week when Jackson students didn't start to school with other Roanoke students because the building wasn't finished.
But Natasha and the other students seemed to quickly forget the delay when they went inside the $6 million renovated school.
"It's a big change, but I like it so far," said Vanessa Dillon, also in the eighth grade. "I like the front entrance, and it's got more technology."
Last year, Jackson students attended other middle schools while their school was rebuilt.
The school opened Monday, but some work remains for the library, science labs, band room and gym. Some kitchen equipment must still be installed. Bag lunches were served Monday.
Principal Helen Townsend said the kitchen will be in service today or Wednesday. The library might not be finished until the end of September, however, because of a leak around a large circular window, she said.
The library also needs to be wired for computers and new technology, Townsend said.
Some children were so eager to see the school that they walked from nearby homes and arrived by 7 a.m., 40 minutes before classes began.
"I wanted to see it," said Josh Hicks, a seventh-grader, who came with his friend, Scott Overstreet. "I was in the old building once when I had a friend there, and I wanted to go inside the new school.''
Stacy Donahue said she wished the old building could have been renovated instead of razed, but she believes the new school will be better.
School officials said the old building could not be adapted for a modern middle school.
Several items from the old building were incorporated into the new school. The 1923 cornerstone has been placed in a wall on the front stairway. The capstone, with the original name of Stonewall Jackson Junior High, has been bolted on a wall in the cafeteria.
Some wood flooring was saved and installed in the office and guidance department.
"It's a really cool school - the best I've ever been to - and it's got air conditioning," seventh-grader Josh Bailey said.
But he doesn't like the green window frames on the first floor. The frames for the upper floors are blue. "I think they all should have all been blue," he said.
Sixth-grader Donna Tolley, who attended Fallon Park Elementary, was excited about moving up to middle school, but she was a little apprehensive, too.
"It's nice, but it's big," she said. "I hope I go to the right place."
Seventh-grader Barbara Draper said the first day was nerve-wracking for her, too. "It's a big school and everything is so busy, you have to rush to get to classes on time."
Enrollment at Jackson is about 535, and most students were present Monday.
Townsend met with students in the auditorium at the beginning of the day and told them that the contractor and subcontractors were putting the finishing touches on the building, but that classes could proceed. Workers poured the final sections of the sidewalk Monday.
Carpet must still be installed in the band room, and the gymnasium floor is still drying. Most of the construction debris has been cleared from the school's lawn, but the landscaping might not be finished until next month.
Each floor in the three-story building houses a different grade: the eighth grade is on the first floor, the seventh grade is on the second, and the sixth grade is on the third.
Assistant Principal Stanley Parker said every classroom will have a television set and three or four computers. Each room will have an intercom phone so the teacher can call the office. The school also has several computer, foreign language, science and technology labs.
Several parents who came with their children on the first day and took a tour of the school said they were impressed.
"I think they've done a great job," Tommy Stump said. "It was sad to see the old school go, but the children needed this new building. It was time for them to move up to a school like this."
Stump and his wife, Debra, attended Jackson together during the early 1970s. Their son Christopher is in the sixth grade.
Sally Harris, the mother of an eighth-grader, said the school is "something that Southeast has needed for a long time, and it will help show the children that the city cares for them."
Harris, who attended Jackson, said she wasn't disappointed that the old school was razed. "I know what it's like to go to school without air conditioning."
Harris said her daughter, Jennifer, was so excited that she awoke at 4 a.m. Monday.
George Hunter, a sixth-grade teacher, said he was so excited he couldn't sleep Sunday night. Hunter taught at Jackson four years before moving to Woodrow Wilson Middle School for several years.
"I wanted to come back to Jackson. I love these kids," he said. "I think I'm going to like the new school."
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Nhat Meyer/Staff Gym coach April Young (center) teachesby CNBseventh-graders out in the courtyard Monday morning. Students will
be having P.E. classes outside for a while because recent rains
leaked into the building and the locker rooms weren't finished.
color.