AURORA — Mrachek Middle School this month moved into a new, two-story 130,000-square-foot building with separate learning communities for each grade level.
Construction on the $40 million building, which serves 1,000 students, began in spring 2017. A Building Excellence in Schools grant of up to $16 million and a bond passed by voters in fall 2016 funded the project.
Chris Hughes, a 7th grade science teacher at the school, said the old building was built in 1975 when an open classroom concept and few windows were the trend. He was also a student there 13 years ago.
"When I was there as a student, there weren’t even any windows…those were an addition,” Hughes said.
Hughes has been a teacher at the Aurora school for the past four years.
“Last year I was in a room where people could go through at any time,” Hughes said. “I’d have 20 to 30 people walking through my room to get to the next room ... But then when you get to be a teacher and trying to keep them engaged, there’s always a disruption.”
Hughes said the new school is making it easier for him to teach in a classroom free of disruptions.
“Thanks to the Aurora voters, I think the new building is something that students are really seeing that they are capable of doing anything, and they are being rewarded for the great things that they’re doing in school,” Hughes said.
