Building a Better Future update: Brooklyn Middle STEAM School project

Voters backed the Building a Better Future plan for district safety, learning, technology and school building needs in 2022 and 2023, and planning has begun in earnest to complete all promised projects and improvements within the plan.

One of the first projects to break ground will be a renovation at Brooklyn Middle STEAM School (BMS). This renovation was already planned using funding from the district’s available facilities maintenance fund, but the passage of Building a Better Future has allowed the district to expand the scope of the project. 

Thanks to Building a Better Future bond dollars, BMS will get new, flexible learning furniture during the renovation. They also now have the ability to make complete structural changes, such as a total renovation of the school’s library media center rather than a facelift. The media center will have comfortable, flexible seating, an area that more closely mimics a classroom, and several small breakout rooms. 

Construction will begin at the beginning of summer break, in June 2024, and it will be completed over two phases during the summers of 2024 and 2025. The school’s second and third floor will be renovated first, along with mechanical updates and the new media center, then the main level renovation will follow in 2025. Brooklyn Middle STEAM School Principal, Kim Monette, stated that the school wide renovations will provide updated facilities and spaces to prepare students for 21st century learning and beyond.  

Executive Director of Finance and Operations John Morstad said the BMS project gave the district a faster way to provide more next-generation learning spaces to its scholars, knowing that the majority of funds were already available and planning could begin before election day. 

“We’re planning multiple flexible spaces and spaces where you can do a lot of individualized learning,” Morstad said. “Teachers can use these spaces differently depending on the need or type of class they’re teaching, whether it’s lecture style, lab style or individual groups.”

The district is really, really excited to see Building a Better Future get started,” Morstad added, “and Brooklyn Middle is a great place to kick it off.”