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Eighteen months from now, the Yosemite Joint Union High School District
will be able to tell the public “Here’s what we promised you in 1998
and we delivered.”
We have been in the construction business at Yosemite High School
since 1999, we look forward to completing it by the end of 2005. When
the project is completed, we will have one of the nicest schools in
the central valley.
Besides the beautiful natural setting, we will have modern, first-class
facilities for our students and staff and the community. We will have
room to accommodate up to 1500 students when the project is complete.
To date, we have built a new cafeteria / multi-purpose room where
our students can eat lunch inside. Gone are the days when they had
to huddle outside in the cold and the rain or try to find an open
classroom in which to eat their lunch. The building doubles as a meeting
room, gymnasium and testing area. It also includes a wrestling room.
The cafeteria has also allowed us to close the campus at noon to all
but seniors. This was one of the biggest concerns of the public when
we were doing surveys before the bond election. A recent meeting with
restaurant managers in Oakhurst confirmed that closing the campus
has been a wonderful thing for them. Their business has improved as
townspeople realized they could come in during lunch and not compete
with several hundred teenagers for service.
The school’s library/media center is located in a completely renovated
building where students can find thousands of books to help them supplement
their classroom instruction. There is a full computer laboratory in
the library where teachers can take their students for specialized
instruction. There are also computers within the main library where
students can do research.
The library building also houses a career center and the Title I classroom
where students receive individualized tutoring.
Science classes have all been moved into a renovated building complete
with laboratory facilities. This is a giant move forward from the
portable buildings in which they used to hold classes.
All administrative offices are located in the same building now. Before
the renovation of this building, high school offices were on one end
of the campus and district offices on the other. Visitors almost needed
a map to get from one to the other. With all administrators in the
same building, it greatly enhances communication and allows us to
see each other frequently, without having to walk for almost 10 minutes
across campus. It also serves the public much better since they can
take care of any school or district business in the same building.
The Harry Baker Gym has been remodeled, enlarged and modernized. We
now have excellent facilities for our teams and visiting teams who
come to the school for athletic competitions.
Until about two years ago, wood shop, auto shop and welding classes
were held in one big open building. It was almost impossible for anyone
to hear anything in any of the classes because each is so noisy. Now,
they are all in self-contained areas with floor to ceiling walls separating
them. Teachers can now teach without competing with loud equipment
from the class next door. A weight room has been installed in the
shop building as well, allowing students to stay in shape throughout
the year.
Choral and band students recently moved into a brand new classroom
building. Drama students relocated to a portable building to await
the renovation of the old music and drama building into a performing
arts center. Work is currently underway to turn the building into
a 400-seat auditorium and drama classrooms. The facility will be available
to the community as well the high school.
New, metal roofs have been added to three of the original buildings
on campus, replacing wooden shingles. The performing arts center will
get a new roof and, as funds become available through developer fees,
all of the other original buildings will have new roofs.
We have new baseball and softball fields that are really looking good.
In fact, they both turned out to be spectacular. When it is totally
completed, the softball field will be close to the best in the valley.
There are four major projects now underway. The football field and
track are completely torn up at this time. The football field will
be renovated to improve drainage. The old dirt track will be replaced
with an all-weather track that will accommodate meets. We are rushing
the clock on this project, hoping to be able to hold graduation ceremonies
on the improved field.
The swimming pool complex is on schedule and should be ready for use
in July or August. As with all of our facilities, this will be open
to the public when school is not in session. Our closed campus applies
to people coming onto the grounds during school just as it applies
to students leaving during school.
Preliminary groundwork is being done for the construction of a 23-classroom
building at the front of the campus. This will house math, English
and social science classes. We expect to pour the foundation in May
and have the building ready for occupancy in the fall of 2005-06.
A riding arena is being planned for the agriculture farm. Many of
our graduates participate in equestrian events in college so we look
forward to providing them with a place to pursue this sport at YHS.
When the classroom building is complete, the portable buildings along
Road 427 will be returned to the state, as per our lease agreement.
We will retain the other portable buildings to allow for expansion
and to provide an area for other special needs as they arise.
We have added a new student parking area, including a bridge. Several
other infrastructure projects have been completed.
Plans are underway to renovate the home economics / art building as
developer funds become available.
In addition to the new and renovated buildings, we have wired every
building to accommodate the most up-to-date technology. Over the past
few years, we have added over $1 million worth of technology to the
campus, thanks to grant funds.
We have always been proud of our programs at YHS and soon we will
have facilities to match these programs.
We take pride in being one of the schools in the state to continue
to offer a broad vocational education program. In tight budget times,
vocational programs are among the first to go, along with fine arts
and library services. We have not cut back on any of these programs,
although funding for library books has been almost eliminated by the
state. The board of trustees has a strong commitment to offering programs
to appeal to all students. We believe vocational and fine arts programs
are just as important for our students as programs such as Inter-national
Baccalaureate and honors.
In addition to all the work at Yosemite High, the Adult Education
program has moved into a new portable classroom and an additional
building has been added for Ahwahnee High School. A basketball court
has also been constructed for AHS students.
In 1998, the voters within the YJUHSD approved an $11.76 million bond.
With additional funds from the state, grants and private donations,
as well as developer fees, we will complete a project valued at almost
$30 million.
We had a vision in 1998, we made a promise. We will soon have fulfilled
both the vision and the promise. The big winners in this are the students
today and the thousands who will attend this campus in the years to
come.
School
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