With hundreds of houses popping up in recently built neighborhoods all over the tri-town area, the Lake Central School Corporation (LCSC) has experienced intense growing pains within the last decade.

“Our school corporation is growing by leaps and bounds,” Mrs. Corinne Cox, an English teacher at Kahler Middle School, said.

Currently, 9,728 students attend schools within the LCSC, and that number is only expected to grow with the years. Each school is experiencing overcrowded classrooms and increased teacher to student ratios. Such an overcrowded environment threatens the quality of education that the LCSC strives to deliver to its students.

To help alleviate the overcrowding, especially in the elementary schools, the LCSC is in the process of building the new Hal E. Clark Middle School.

Located on 93rd Ave in St. John, the new middle school will house approximately 1100 students in grades fifth through eighth.

“It will help to alleviate the large student population at the elementary schools and the two other middle schools,” Superintendent Dr. Janet Emerick said.

The plan is to have the new middle school open its doors to students in August 2007, but difficulties in the building process may hinder its completion.

The ground soil at first was not firm enough to hold the building; over 800 pilings of wood were driven into the ground to stabilize it. The constant precipitation and mild weather during the winter months have also created a major setback because the heavy machinery could not properly work on softened soil.

In preparation for the unexpected, the administration has set up a contingency plan if the new middle school is not ready in time for the new school year. Students expected to attend Clark will transfer during winter break rather than at the beginning of the school year.

“As we work together, many of the concerns or issues have been discussed, and plans have been established to facilitate the move and opening of Clark Middle School,” newly appointed Clark Middle School Principal Mr. Scott Graber said.

If the contingency plan must take effect, all fifth grade elementary school students will be placed with their classroom teachers for the 2007-2008 school year in their current schools to avoid as much disruption in the educational process as possible.

Students in grades sixth through eighth will attend either Kahler or Grimmer until the time of the transfer, depending on their location in the tri-town area.

“Providing a quality education for all students will be our top priority,” Mr. Graber said.

Many parents are not anticipating the possibility of a contingency plan taking effect and altering the educational process of their children. The administration, however, assures that the transfer will be done as quickly and as accurately as possible to avoid any potential problems.

“I expect Clark to operate at the same high level of quality and effectiveness as do the other two middle schools,” Dr. Emerick said.

The addition of a third middle school hopefully will not only alleviate the overcrowding in the younger grades, but it will also provide more room for future students to learn, prosper, and thrive academically.