Moncton High students prepare for final days in old school

Moncton High School students are preparing to leave their old, downtown building and will be sitting in their new desks on Friday.

Last-minute preparations are in full swing for the switch to the new Moncton High School.

Mike Belong, the schools principal, said items are being moved into the new building and everything from telephone lines to printers are being hooked up.

He said things will be ready for the first day of classes on Friday.

Belong said the first day will require an orientation for all the students.

"It's like any place, they're going to have to get oriented, he said.

We have some signage in place that will guide them. We're going to have to have all hands on deck. Usually we have our supervision or duty schedule involves teams of teachers, we're going to ask all hands to be out directing students in certain ways."

The principal said the school will have Grade 9 and 10 students in the largecafetoriumand Grade 11 and 12 students in the gymnasium so they can hear the basic rules about the building and how to find their classes.

The school administration is also trying to get important information into the hands of parents. Belong said information about busing and traffic are being posted on the school's website.

The students are also eager to get into the new facility.

Cole Estabrooks, a Grade 10 student at Moncton High School, said he really likes what he has seen so far of the new building.

"I love it. It's a lot bigger than the old one and it's going to be fun to come in and learn here more modern and a lot brighter colours I find, he said.

The school cost $27 million and boasts 45 classrooms, moving walls, new lab equipment, and separate shop areas for students working in metal, woodworking and auto mechanic shops.

The old school that the students are leaving is nearly 80 years old. The downtown, Gothic-style stone building had to be closed temporarily in 2010 after a series of health and safety problems at the school.

When deciding to build a new school, the provincial government sparked a local controversy with the location. The new building is on the Royal Oaks site on Elmwood Drive instead of being a downtown facility like the old school.

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