MIHS and DMS Update at Work Session on Monday, Dec. 12, 2011
The Dalton Board of Education discussed plans for Morris Innovative High School and Dalton Middle School in a work session before the regular meeting on Monday night. MIHS Principal Jennifer Phinney shared the school’s plans to expand or add several academic pathways into academies. The Academy of Health Care Sciences will become a full-time program in January and the Academy of Leadership will begin in January. In the fall the school will add an Academy of Media Arts and an Academy of Translation and Interpretation.
Ms. Phinney shared that all of the courses are current approved state courses or existing pathways. “We are bundling the courses differently for a different outcome.” Media arts will focus on digital media, including photography, video and audio. Leadership will include experiences to develop leadership within the school, community, and an examination of leaders and their actions through study and field trips to sites including the Carter Center and the King Center, both of which are based in Atlanta.
MIHS also will offer evening school from 3-6 p.m. beginning next semester with a small number of students as a pilot. That program may expand based on need next school year.
Because MIHS is expected to grow to more than 500 students in the fall, the school campus will move to Fort Hill School until further facility plans can be determined. Those plans could be renovation of Fort Hill or conversion of an existing industrial building. Northstar and the district’s CrossRoads students are expected to move to the current MIHS facility. Superintendent Jim Hawkins said the temporary move will involve some dedicated effort from the school staff, operations, and technology to be ready but that minimal structural work will be required since the facility is already in operation. The kitchen will be renovated and that work has already begun.
Facility expansion options for Dalton Middle School were presented that included a road connecting the staff parking area to the driveway at the Beaulieu plant on the bypass. The road is a desired improvement regardless of other facility changes to provide an additional egress point from the school and Heritage Park. This improvement should help traffic flow with buses and other traffic. The estimated cost for the road is $800,000. Work could begin before next school year. Also presented were several options for placement of an auditorium that would initially provide 10 classroom spaces to relieve overcrowding in existing classrooms. An auxiliary gymnasium and expanded cafeteria space are being considered as well. Principal Brian Suits and the architect agreed that the input from staff, students, parents, and administration provided invaluable ideas in developing design ideas for the necessary spaces. The board and administration have not yet determined a final design from the options.