On Tuesday’s start to a new year of learning, students at Smith and Wheat Middle Schools will experience the results of a summer of renovations at their campuses.

            Projects approved by voters in the 2021 bond election provided for improvements and construction at Smith, with Wheat, which opened in 1992, receiving a total transformation.

  In phase one of a two-year plan for Smith, efforts have been focused primarily on the second floor, which serves seventh and eighth graders. Completed projects have provided for additional restrooms, and upgrades to existing restrooms, improved traffic flow with the removal of lockers in opening up hallways, new tile and paint in corridors and classrooms and the relocation of an assistant principal’s office to the upper level of the school.  

Smith Principal Dr. Amber White said the improvements at her campus over the summer have generated lots of excitement in both staff and students who have been at the school for sixth grade Jacket Camp and schedule pick-up.

“Our school is brighter, lighter and we have more space in which to move,” she said. “This feels like a cheerful place when you walk in. The expansion of space with additional passageways has been a game changer—it’s safer--we don’t have 300 kids coming both directions down one hallway.”

“Because construction has run ahead of schedule, the sixth-grade classrooms on the first floor have also been addressed, including the addition of two new classrooms,” White said. “We anticipate welcoming 325 sixth graders on the first day of school.”

Seventh grade science teacher Andrea Allen is among faculty members impressed by the renovations and improvements. This will be Allen’s 19^th year at the campus.

“I’m really impressed with the new hallways,” she said. “It’s fantastic—the flow will be so much better. And the additional, and remodeled, bathrooms will really help student needs. I also like having an assistant principal upstairs, which will give them better and faster accessibility. Because Smith is a two-story building, it can take some extra time for an administrator to get up the stairs. This just makes for better efficiency and response from an administrator when there’s a need.”

Allen was among the teachers who had some unboxing to do, with her classroom receiving a paint and flooring makeover. A new touch to the Smith classrooms is one wall painted in an accent color of green, blue or yellow.

“My accent wall is green—I call it Skittles green,” she said. “I think it makes the room feel cheery. When I come in, it makes me happy. The new floors are great for conducting science labs. I feel they have provided for improved acoustics, which is great when we have students working in teams on experiments. I think sounds will be absorbed, rather than bouncing all around.”

The promise of more color to come, with the second phase of renovation/construction in the summer of 2023, is the re-tiled elevator shaft on the campus, which is located in the main hallway.  

 Construction has been underway at Wheat since January, resulting in 34 new classrooms, new and larger Special Education spaces and a new main entry and administration offices/area. Reflecting the relocation of the primary campus entry to the east end of the building, the school’s physical address is now 1020 Woodard Avenue, with student pickup/drop-off and visitor enter/exit lanes coming off Woodard.

“To be this far along, and to know how far we’ve come in such a short period of time makes us so grateful,” Wheat Principal Crystal Kampen said. “I am so excited for our kids to see the building on Tuesday. As a staff, we’re super pumped and ready to showcase our school. It’s open, airy, fresh, clean and modern. It sets a new tone for a great beginning of the new school year.”

“It’s the re-set button,” Kampen said. “I am so thrilled to have a school that kids will want to come to every day.”

Vickie Kohl, who has been a member of the WMS English Department faculty for 11 years, is excited by all the “new” at her campus.

“Everything is beautiful,” Kohl said. “The classrooms are bigger and I love the new technology, including the large-screen interactive monitors. I think the kids will take amazing pride in their school.”

Cleburne ISD Construction Project Manager Lannie Mooney is very pleased by the progress and quality of work at Smith and Wheat, as those most benefiting from the efforts—the students—experience their new learning environments on Tuesday.

“This district has two of very few schools in north Texas with construction projects that opened on time,” Mooney said. “Between CISD, Imperial Construction and PBK Architects, we have made a good team. These projects have been cost efficient, are a good design and I think our teachers, students, parents and community will be thrilled with what’s been done.”

“Wheat is a really good design—it’s hard to believe it’s the same school, inside and out,” Mooney said. “The incredible part of the Smith project is we didn’t begin it until the first of June, after school was out for students and staff. To have accomplished all we did was a great feat.”

Phase 3 of the construction/renovation project at Wheat will continue with the start of school, in areas closed off to students. In January and the start of the second semester, students will access renovated science labs, robotics and skills for living learning spaces, along with 13 additional classrooms.