Whatcom Middle School to reopen with new interior

On Sept. 6, the familiar chime of class bells and students heading to class will echo down the halls of Whatcom Middle School. Students who attended the school before the fire in 2009 will return to a renovated building with a new library, water fountains and a higher ceiling in the basement.

Ruth Chartier attended Whatcom Middle School years ago and looks forward to sending her children to the updated school.

“They are only 6 and 8 years old now so Whatcom Middle School will for sure be open when they're old enough,” she said. “I just hope they won’t change too much so that I can share memories with them.”

The school’s exterior was largely untouched by the flames. No big changes could be made to the damaged interior due to the school insurance policy which doesn’t cover additions to the school building. This meant that modifications had to be done without any major expansions to the original building design.

The layout of the building before the interior overhaul did not meet the needs and "philosophy of a middle school," according to Jeff Coulter, principal of Whatcom Middle School and part of the construction planning committee.

“Middle school philosophy means teachers work in teams and share 100 to 120 students with a math teacher, a science teacher and several core teachers,” said Coulter. “We had teams but we weren’t able to accommodate proximity.”

Students traveled multiple floors to go between classes. Now the school is broken up around six open areas. These spaces have been designated as meeting places where students and instructors can gather for group activities.

Folding partitions between several rooms allow teachers to combine classes and work together with their student groups.

The library was moved from the southern end of campus to open up space for the class team areas. It is now located in the front of the building on the top floor.

The planning committee also improved constructional aspects of the building. The ceilings of the locker rooms located in the basement, once called “the catacombs” according to Coulter because the ceiling was so low, were raised to 10 feet. There are now drinking fountains dispersed throughout the school that once only had two working areas for water.

The biggest change will be bringing back students to the middle school. For the past year, Whatcom Middle School students have been split up and sent to three different schools.

"Whatcom being closed has been tough on the community,” Mark Schlichting, a former teacher at Whatcom Middle School said. “It’s going to be great for the kids to be able to come back to school in their own community.”

Sixth-graders were sent to Geneva Elementary; seventh-graders to Shuksan Middle School and eighth-graders attended Fairhaven Middle School after a time at Bellingham High School.

The other schools, however, did not have enough staff to accommodate the displaced students. Shuksan alone gained an additional 200 students. Whatcom teachers were then moved to teach at the different schools.

"They have been working and educating all kids in the district, not just from Whatcom Middle School. Contractually they have a right to a job and this allowed us to provide it,” Coulter said.

During the first year of school closure, Whatcom staff was still considered part of Whatcom Middle School faculty though they were teaching at different schools. But in the 2010-2011 school year, the teachers became part of the staff of the other schools. Many plan to return to Whatcom this fall.

“Restarting the culture the Whatcom will be an interesting process because we lost some continuity,” said Coulter. “The majority of the staff is returning, however, and they are really the keepers of the culture. This will help with the transition back.”

Parents who do not want to move their children to the renovated school will be subject to district transfer policies. Requests are taken in March and again in August. This is granted on space availability according to Coulter. There have already been six requests from eighth-graders attending Shuksan Middle School to remain at that school.

Students entering sixth grade will not remain at Geneva Elementary. The sixth-grade program was temporary for Whatcom Middle School students. The school will no longer accept grades over fifth as of this fall.

“Whatcom has been on Halleck Street for over 100 years and is part of the community,” said Coulter. “Everyone associated with the school is excited to have it back again.” 

Sunnyland sewers part of city test

Residents of the Sunnyland neighborhood will be part of a test planned in 2009 due to Bellingham’s rising population.

“This project is to find out how effective it is to fix private sewer systems on the amount of waster treated on an hourly basis [at the sewage treatment facility],” said Chad Bedlington, Public Works superintendent of maintenance for the City of Bellingham.       

There are two types of sewer systems, said Craig Mueller, inflow and infiltration project engineer and administrator. The sanitary sewer carries away all of the water from sinks and toilets. This water is then treated at a plant before being returned to Bellingham Bay. Storm drains are untreated and return to rivers which eventually carry it to the bay.

It costs a fraction of a cent per gallon to treat sewage. Currently the sewage plant treats 9 million gallons per hour, during a day without rain. When it rains, this number jumps to 45 million gallons per hour. The rain can affect this amount of water needing to be treated only if it infiltrates weaknesses in sewer pipes. The city is spending money treating water that is already clean, according to Mueller.

“As a citizen who pays taxes it makes sense to repair or replace sewer pipes so ground water goes to the bay and… we don’t have to build more expensive sewer treatment plants,” said Mary Anne Stuckart, a member of the Sunnyland Neighborhood Association.

The population is expected to continue to rise. According to the Bellingham city census, Bellingham’s population has grown 20 percent between 2000 and 2010. Mueller expects this number to keep growing, which also means that water usage will increase.

The project will cost anywhere from $4.2 million to $6.9 million when it is complete, according the Sunnyland Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Survey. The money was built into the city’s budget as of 2009 as a portion devoted to city public works projects.

In 2009, a comprehensive sewer plan was created to combat the rising use of water in the area from a rising population. One item called for a new 1.7 million gallon wet weather storage facility, which is an underground tank that holds water until it can be treated at the plant. To avoid purchasing this tank, the city hopes to decrease the amount of extra water making its way into the sewage system.

The first step to solving this problem is to see how badly the pipe infrastructure was damaged. To discover weaknesses in Sunnyland pipes, smoke was poured into the system to see where it would rise.

“Most of the heaviest areas of smoke were on people's properties,” Bedlington said. “This means that we are going to have to gain permission from homeowners before we can work on the premises.”

Mueller and others on the project must receive written consent from property owners before beginning the work.

“This will be a no-charge service. Any problems that are found with a sewage system will be replaced and the area will be left exactly as, or better than, we found it,” Mueller said.

Those affected could lose sewer service for up to eight hours. The city will provide alternatives, such as portable toilets, if a personal sewage system will be offline for longer than several hours, according to Bedlington at the Sunnyland Neighborhood Association meeting on April 19.

A new sewer line can be added to a property declaration. This can slightly increase the property value, depending on the extent of work, Mueller said.

The Sunnyland Neighborhood was selected for a number of reasons. One is Sunnyland is in the central basin of the city, meaning that more rain tends to collect in this area. Another factor is where the pipes lay. In Sunnyland, most sewage areas are in alleyways, making it easy to fix the pipes without disturbing the community.

Not all of Sunnyland is eligible for pipe upgrades. Only the area with a boundary of Kentucky Street to the south, Illinois Street to the north, Dean Avenue to the west, and Grant Street to the east will be part of the sewer replacement, according to Mueller.

The area surrounded by State Street, James Street, Illinois Street and Grant Street will be the “control area." To show if replacing pipes in the west part of Sunnyland worked, Mueller compares the water treatment amount from this area to the eastern portion of the neighborhood. The two areas had relative amounts of smoke rising in similar areas, meaning the problems are comparable. 

Sunnyland's first community garden

An idea planted by the Sunnyland Elementary PTA grew to become Sunnyland Neighborhood’s first community garden.

Members of the church wanted to find a way to “connect to the community,” according to Scott Roberts, pastor for Hope In Christ Church. He approached the Sunnyland Neighborhood Association and asked what the church could do.

“One thing was that Sunnyland Elementary wanted a garden. PTA members were complaining about not having any room for one,” Roberts said.

The congregation decided to create a community garden. Land behind the church was chosen as the initial plot. This is several blocks away from the elementary school.

           

Before the project could begin, the community needed to be informed about the garden, according to Roberts.

“We went door-to-door and handed out flyers and talked to people in the neighborhood,” said Rosa McAlister, a member of Hope in Christ and part of the project.

The initial meeting occurred in March with a turnout of about 20 people. This group split into three focus groups; one for finance, another for construction of the garden and the last dedicated to searching for locations.

“We had to lay out what we wanted from the garden. The easiest way to do it is just do rectangular plots in a row, which is what we did,” said Greg Waters, who once owned his own landscaping business and help with construction.

There are 33 plots in the initial garden. Twenty-seven of these plots are 10-by-10 feet and cost $50 to rent. The remaining six are 4-by-10 feet for $35 each.

"Anyone and everyone are welcome to register for a plot,” Roberts said.

Sunnyland students have not been able to help with the garden because it is too far to bring students, according to Mary Anne Stuckart, Sunnyland Elementary principal.

Local businesses will have the opportunity to sponsor those who can’t afford a plot. McAlister and others involved with the financial aspects of the project have been approaching businesses to contribute to this cause. There is also a large plot for co-operative planting. Anyone interested may work in this area.

           

Community gardeners who are unable to kneel for long periods of time are also being considered. Waters said the group is looking into making raised beds that would make it easy the soil easy to reach for the elderly, those in wheelchairs or others that need a higher plot.

           

The initial idea was for this area to contain vegetables. However, anything that isn’t invasive can be grown at the garden as long as no pesticides or herbicides are used, according to Roberts.

           

Volunteers for the garden project have also been writing grant requests to those giving money for cooperative gardens. These requests lay out the mission of the project, the level of sustainability and why the garden needs funding.

           

The group is looking into gaining a financial sponsor to make any donations tax deductable. Becoming a non-profit takes time and this is the best way to give back to encourage donations until then, McAlister said.

           

One local business provided help that was not monetary. The owner of The Garden Spot, located off of Alabama Street, donated a truckload of leftover compost from a sale by Sehome High School and the Kiwanis Club. The garden store also allowed Janaki Kilgore, a project member, to borrow a truck for transporting the dirt to the garden.

           

Kilgore said that the church site is only the first in what the group hopes will end up being many gardens. Several more sites are being looked into.

           

One potential site for a future garden includes land owned by Puget Sound Energy. The company is interested in looking at designs the garden group creates before discussing further terms, said Roberts.

           

Another possible plot is an overgrown piece of property close to the church. The owner also wants to see designs and is “dialoguing with us about putting a garden there,” Roberts said.

           

Kilgore created a website (http://sunnylandcommunitygardens.weebly.com/) for the project. This will allow those that weren’t initially contacted to get involved in the project, she said.

          

Polly Gilbert, a Sunnyland Neighborhood Association member who has attended numerous garden meetings, said that the association approves of the work so far.

           

“I have plenty of yard of my own but think this is a wonderful idea for those who don’t have land,” said Gilbert.

          

McAlister said she is confident the community garden project will be a success.

           

“It has been a really eye-opening process…” she said. “A small group managed to do a big thing fairly quickly, I was impressed by that.”