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| Apex Friendship construction site as of March 18. |
Apex
High School has held its frame together since the 1970s, but time has come for
some refurbishing. The home of the Cougars is scheduled to be renovated in 2017.
Students and staff will temporarily move to Green Level High School for the
year. Construction of Green Level High School has not yet begun. Plans to
renovate Apex High School include tearing down A Building in its entirety as
well as building a new gym and auditorium.
As
of right now, only $5 million have been allotted to Apex High School for
preliminary planning. A majority of the funds will have to come from a second
bond, as the entire renovation process will cost around $100 million.
Although
over half of students surveyed commented that they would be upset to move part
way through high school, many issues with the school were also listed. Freshman
Connor Trevaskiss expressed his complaints about the boys’ bathrooms in the
pods. “Many of the toilets work, and the lights randomly shut off.”Freshman
Allie Debevec commented on the presence of cockroaches throughout the school
and grubs in the auxiliary gym. And according to freshman Salem Tedder, “you
can feel the staircase next to the courtyard shake if enough people walk on
it.”
In
addition to Apex High School being renovated and Green Level High School being
built, the construction of Apex Friendship High School is also underway. Friendship
is scheduled to open in 2015. Districts are yet to be reassigned. Principal
Matt Wight believes that, “Apex High School is extremely overcrowded. It was
originally supposed to hold 1,800 students, but that number is now up to 2,500.”
The new schools, once built, will help relieve the issue of overcrowding.
Changes
are coming to Apex High School, and some would argue that they are long overdue.
Freshman Kylie Hofmeister says she is looking forward to her upperclassman
years, and despite the possibility of being reassigned to Friendship in 2015, says,
“Wherever I end up, I’m sure there will be plenty of familiar faces.”
