The crunching jaws of a Caterpillar—a common sight around the lower school in 2008—could again “grace” the campus a little sooner than expected. This time, the beast will feast on the sagging (and in some cases rotting) middle-school buildings, making room for a new middle-school campus, or at least part of one for the time being. 

As the Newton Booth high-school campus moves from possibility to probability, Latham campus plans hang in limbo, pinned between the success or failure of a deal which could be finalized by June, according to headmaster Stephen Repsher. 

Decisions as trivial as where and what the senior gift should be cannot be made until the outcome of Newton Booth is known.   

But this four-figure decision pales in comparison to a $2.7-million Phase IIA middle-school construction decision to be made by Repsher and the Board of Trustees, a decision also relying on Newton Booth.

“We need to step back and rethink the best and highest use of the land that we have,” Repsher said. “It is important not to design a school today that will not suit our purposes in the future.” 

The new middle-school plan was conceived in 1995, along with plans for a new lower and high school, as part of what Repsher calls the “Master Plan.” The Master Plan was revisited in 2003 and again in 2006, and it looks as though Repsher and the Board will look again in 2009.

“We have to revisit it because a move of the high school would have significant implications for Latham campus development,” Repsher said. 

The original plan, according to Repsher, was to continue with Phase IIA—the demolition of the current 6th-grade classrooms and the construction of a two-story middle-school building housing offices, bathrooms, and nine classrooms. To do so, the school needs to raise approximately $1.5 million to supplement the $1.25 million already in its coffer. 

Phase IIA would be followed by Phase IIB, the demolition of nine classrooms on the south side of the middle-school quad and the construction of another middle-school building housing more classrooms. This would cost an additional $1.25 million. 

The construction was planned this way to minimize classroom loss, Repsher said. New classrooms had to be created before old ones could be destroyed. 

Now, with the potential for a new high-school campus at Newton Booth, Repsher and the Board are thinking twice about the construction planning. 

“I’m eager to see the recreation of a middle-school quad,” Board president Anita Marmaduke said. The once grassy square was bulldozed in 2005 to make room for a temporary building, and Marmaduke wants to see that changed for several reasons including aesthetics. 

Rather than wait until the school raises another $1.5 million to begin Phase IIA, Repsher is considering jumping ahead to IIB.

“Before, it wasn’t even a consideration. There was no way we could tear down that many classrooms,” Repsher said. “We have enough money to begin and complete Phase IIB, but construction will depend on confirmation [from the Board of Trustees].” 

Repsher is also toying with scrapping the two-story building design for a single-story model. 

“Fewer students gives us the opportunity to consider single-story construction,” Repsher said. But Repsher isn’t sure if this would be the best course of action. 

“It might make sense initially to build single story, but on the other hand, two-story would fit more students and provide more open space, making better use of the campus,” he said. 

Should the high school leave, the middle school has room to grow by as much as 150.

The Newton Booth campus takes some of the fundraising heat off Repsher.  “We aren’t compelled to remodel now,” he said.

The most important purpose for Repsher is to keep the middle school together.

“My goal is to maintain a sense of place. I don’t want to see the middle school scattered. I want them to maintain a sense of identity,” he said.