New Taft Middle School ready for Aug. 16 first day

When the Crown Point School Board first interviewed Superintendent Todd Terrill for the job in 2020, a new middle school to replace aging and cramped Robert A. Taft Middle School ranked as one of its chief concerns.

“They asked me how we could get a new school,” Terrill said Thursday as he stood inside the airy, new $80 million Taft Middle School at 5235 E. 121st Ave. in Winfield.

It’s part of a $350 million districtwide capital project agenda that includes improvements at each of Crown Point’s 11 growing campuses. It also includes the addition of 25 classrooms at Crown Point High School.

A mosaic sign from the old Robert A. Taft Middle School hangs in the library of the newly-built Taft Middle School in Winfield on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)

As existing debt fell off its books, the district launched the new capital plan by financing new bonds, avoiding the need for a tax increase and a referendum.

Gibraltar Design served as the architect and the Skillman Corp. is the school’s construction manager.

On Aug. 16, the first school bell will ring for about 1,100 Taft students.

Principal Tracy Seibert has been working in the 230,000 square-foot building since mid-July and teachers have been coming by the past two weeks.

“We have an amazing staff of about 100, including 60 teachers,” she said. “They’re all so excited.”

Crown Point Community School Corporation superintendent Todd Terrill, on left, speaks about plans for the under-construction auditorium at the new Taft Middle School as principal Tracy Seibert, on right, and Crown Point Schools director of communications Brooke Allen look on during a walkthrough of the school on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)

The new school sits on about 100 acres off 121st Avenue, seemingly rising out of large swaths of undeveloped land. Virtually all Taft students will take a bus to the new school, although Seibert said she did have one walker.

Growth is exploding in Crown Point. Its population has increased by 7,000 people since 2010 to about 34,600. Planning estimates forecast a population of about 42,000 by 2040.

Terrill said the property was one of three parcels purchased about a dozen years ago. “This one made sense geographically,” he said. The district’s other middle school, Col. John Wheeler, is located to the west near downtown.

Seibert still marvels at the new school, especially when she compares it to the 70-year-old old Taft building at 1000 Main St.

Almost none of the now-standard science lab features, including a chemical hood vent and drop down electrical outlets existed at the old school, she said.

Construction workers gather materials outside of an entrance of the newly-built Taft Middle School in Winfield on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)

Thirty six classrooms and nine science labs are spread across three separated pods for sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

Each classroom in all the district’s schools is equipped with Clear Touch panels that aid student-led discussions.

Taft’s media center greets students and visitors off the north-facing main entrance.

It’s filled with natural light, small and large group instruction rooms, casual seating and lots of books.

It dwarfs the former middle school’s media center, Seibert said. “Here, we have a ton of space,” she said.

Excavators are operated near the endzone of the football field at the newly-built Taft Middle School in Winfield on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)

A large student-made mural was brought from the old school and was hung above the center’s entrance as a remembrance of the past. There was no room for the large sign in the old media center, Seibert said.

Throughout the school, wide hallways are flanked by red lockers.

The cafeteria seats about 475 students with a patio and big windows for students to gaze out as they eat.

There’s also an applied skills room to instruct special education students in life skills such as using a microwave and doing laundry.

Crown Point Community School Corporation superintendent Todd Terrill points out movable furniture and seating in the library of the newly-built Taft Middle School in Winfield on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)

The school also has two gymnasiums and a spacious football/soccer/track complex.

Terrill said the auditorium is expected to be completed by Sept. 1. It can seat up to 700 people and will be used for musical performances, plays and convocations.

Spokeswoman Brooke Allen said the northern portion of the old Taft building, to be renamed the Education Center, will be renovated and house programs including Birth to School and the 18-22 Transition to Adulthood.

The southern portion will be demolished and a new administration building will be constructed, consolidating the three different administrative sites now in use.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Lake

Aug. 9: Griffith

Aug. 10: Munster

Aug. 11: Highland

Aug. 14: East Chicago

Aug. 15: Gary, Lake Central, River Forest

Aug. 16: Crown Point, Hanover Central, Hammond, Hobart, Lake Ridge, Lake Station, Merrillville, Tri-Creek

Aug. 17: Whiting

Porter

Aug. 16: Boone Township, Duneland, East Porter, Porter Township, Union Township, Portage Township, Valparaiso