New renovations are underway at Prospect as a part of the consistent changes made to the school within the last year.

The plan combines almost 10 spaces, spanning from the former wood shop to the CAD Lab, into four brand new spaces. Currently, the former classrooms are being “gutted” to clear the space needed in order to install new walls.

Two of the four new spaces will be converted into new state-of-the-art labs, housing CTE equipment for students who are interested in engineering and construction career pathways. Prospect has been pushing in recent years to advance the opportunities for those students and hopes that the new rooms and equipment will inspire more students to take CTE classes like Project Lead The Way.

“It’s an area where a lot of our students show interest,” said Minter. “But they don’t choose to take these classes and [hopefully] this will entice them.”

Originally, the school had hoped to complete the project before the 20-21 school year, but setbacks in the other massive renovations over the summer (including curtain wall replacements, new windows, partial roof repair, a new health service office and a furniture overhaul) delayed the start until just before winter break.

Renovations are being completely done by District 214 custodial and maintenance staff as opposed to the private contractors hired for the summer’s construction, and Minter expects the rooms to be completed by the time students return to school after spring break.

Even though students may be in the building during construction, Minter says the school hasn’t faced many challenges other than the occasional sound disturbances. Additionally, not many classes were being taught in the CTE hallway when renovations commenced so the relocation of teachers and classes was extremely minimal.

Prospect is far from done with the construction over the past couple of years. This upcoming summer, both the east and west interior courtyard walls are being replaced along with the addition of a new classroom space for the health career pathway. With the new addition, students will be able to become Certified Nursing Assistants within the school.

“I’m hopeful that these nice new big spaces will help entice students to take some of these fantastic classes,” Minter said. “A lot of students don’t see these classes as a part of their electives package… [but] if you’re interested in S.T.E.M. these are some great classes and electives to take.”