Madison Metropolitan School District broke ground on four of its North Side schools March 30 as part of its 2024 referendum projects.
Sherman Middle School/Shabazz City High School and Samuel Gompers Elementary/Black Hawk Middle School held groundbreaking ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively on Monday. The two schools will receive completely new buildings that will provide much-needed updates to modernize their dated setups. Students will remain in the current buildings and move into the new ones with construction expected to continue through summer 2027.
“You can hear, you can see, and you can sense that something great is happening behind me and in front of you. It’s the moment when years of planning, collaboration and community support turn into something real,” said Dr. Joe Gothard, superintendent of MMSD.
The groundbreaking ceremonies are part of Phase 1 of MMSD’s push to modernize 10 schools across the district.
In the district, 26 of the schools were built more than 60 years ago. Those buildings were not necessarily designed for growing populations, changes in education or with the intention to remain for as long as they have.
Shared changes for the schools will be LEED certified, a designation for a green building rating system. Geothermal pumping will be used for efficient climate control in the winters and summers when classrooms experience their most extreme climates. Solar panels will be installed to help with the city’s net-zero goal.
The schools were presented with a recognition as “four-star climate champions for building and design” by Dane County. The recognition is the highest award given by the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate for facilities recognized for exceptional energy efficiency.
The schools will also have rocks created by students that will be placed in the foundation.
“Each rock represents hope, dream or vision for the future, for themselves, for their school and for their community,” said Dr. Aaron Willis, Black Hawk’s principal. “I think that’s a powerful symbol, because every school is built on a strong foundation, not just of concrete and steel, but of student voices and dreams, and the belief that anything is possible.”
Almost a century old
Sherman and Shabazz’s building was built in 1928. The nearly 100-year-old building did not take into account things like students with disabilities. It lacks meaningful accessibility for those students.
The heating and cooling system in the building is faulty and is so old that parts are no longer manufactured for it.
A new building brings new potential for the school to reach students, said Sherman Principal Alex Thompson.
“The new Sherman Middle School will create spaces that support collaboration while championing the diversity that makes us strong,” Thompson said. “The potential for each of our scholars will be expanded because of the investment that our community made to their futures.”
On the school’s other side of Shabazz, Principal Nathan O’Shaughnessy is excited to have a modern building that will help create better learning environments.
“Malcolm Shabazz City High School has always been a place where students are encouraged to think differently, experience learning differently, express themselves and pursue their passions,” O’Shaughnessy said. “The new Shabbat space will build on our positive culture by creating flexible learning environments that support creativity, collaboration and student voice.”
Among the issues that will be addressed with the new building, the two schools will finally have a bit more separation between middle and high schoolers. Both will gain their own libraries, cafeterias and gym.
Average classroom sizes will also be increased from 780 sq. ft. to 900 sq. ft. The increase in size, and bonus with brand-new classrooms, will allow for better instructional space for things like lab activities, which Shabazz has been strongly lacking, as previous rooms were deemed inadequate or unsafe due to a lack of ample space to store chemicals.
It is estimated to cost $108 million.
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
“Our educators made it work.”
Gompers and Black Hawk will receive a similar restructuring to Shabazz and Sherman. The old building will be torn down for a fresh, modern school that addresses many critical issues students and teachers have continued to face.
The school is a bit newer than the other North Side one — built in 1958 — but still is filled with its own myriad of issues that warrant a new building.
Among its chief issues are accessibility, leaking roofs, poor climate control for classrooms, plumbing issues, set up for each school’s respective libraries, limitations from a few permanent electrical outlets, deteriorating infrastructure in constant repair, a cafeteria that does not mesh well with its six different lunch periods and a lack of storage space in classrooms.
For changes in the building, classrooms will be bigger with an increase from 725 sq. ft. to 900 sq. ft., the cafeteria will be a single larger space, gyms will be significantly expanded with a dedicated space for both, and a reduction in Black Hawk’s library that will fix its current maze-like structure, and a larger library for Gompers. Other issues in its infrastructure will be addressed by the new build.
“This is the neighborhood that I live in. This is the schools that my four children have gone to,” said Dane County Executive Melissa Agard. “When we have these amazing schools, it helps the teachers and our neighbors. Members and the children know that they matter even more, and they stand a little bit straighter, a little bit taller, and they dream a little bit harder.”
The estimated cost comes in at around $84 million.
