Welcome back Chiefs! Over the summer, quite a few changes have been made that will impact your 2018-2019 school year and Kempsville High School’s campus in general. With that in mind, here is your guide to the changes that have been made.

Renovations:

Kempsville High School introduced the EBA academy in the fall of 2016, and over this summer renovations have been made to better accommodate it. This has led to the construction in and around the 300 hall, which had previously housed construction technology classes and is now being modified to better suit the needs of the business academy, and become the EBA wing. Some of these changes include a ‘Masterspace’, or a student collaboration area that will house a 3D printer, laser cutter, and other tools.

For more information, and a showcase of the final product, go to https://khsentrepreneurshipacademy.weebly.com/eba-learning-spaces.html.

Lockers:

Another renovation that the school has undergone during the summer is the removal of student-issued lockers.

“Students don’t really use lockers anymore – they use backpacks and carry their stuff around with them, so we didn’t need as many lockers in the building,” said Assistant Principal Mr. Brad Barbour. “With our enrollment going up we needed to open up our hallways a little bit, so we went to the daily use lockers.”

The new daily use lockers are all expected to be active next week and will be simple to use. A student can go up to any unlocked locker in the building, place their belongings inside, press the power button and put any 4-digit code in, then press the ‘lock’ button. That locker then stays locked under their code until they return, with no expiry date on its usage, and becomes available for use by another student once it has been unlocked again.

Walls & Whiteboards:

You will notice whiteboards lining hallways where lockers have been removed without the need for replacement, as well as walls painted in splashes of red and blue.

Painting them the school colors, said Mr. Barbour, was Principal George’s idea.

“We’re trying to increase the culture of the school and the relationship with the kids. All of that is about school culture, and that was her decision; to paint those red and blue, [and] to give it a little bit more school spirit.”

” [A] pop of color makes a world of difference!” Principal George said on Twitter.

In addition to the fresh colors, the whiteboards that have been added are open to teachers and students for instruction and collaborations and have been utilized during classes and Tribe Time. While markers are not attached to the boards, students are free to use them and are welcome to ask for markers and continue to use them during Tribe Time.

A new whiteboard in the 200 hall on September 25, 2018, after having been used during English classes.

The most recent change that you’ll see is the charging stations installed in the halls. These stations encourage teachers to spread out, and also hope to simplify small group discussions and student collaboration. Soon, these tables and the hallways will also have benches, which will also be available during One Lunch.

The benches are expected to be installed before the second week of October.