Walking into Delphi Community High School and Middle School after summer break, things may not look too different. Some may wonder why they closed down the school for the summer, because physically, nothing has changed. 

The summer construction had started a few years ago with what is referred to as Phase One. During this phase, starting at the business wing and working their way up to the locker bays, the water pipes had been redone. This summer, Phase Two continued where Phase One left off. This time the project continued the original project all the way through to the middle school. 

Over the summer, in an attempt to fix the consistently inconsistent air temperature, the school installed a new VAV, a unit that supplies airflow at a variable temperature. This allows the airflow to be more regulated throughout the school. Another main component of the construction was the water being turned off as the piping was redone to fix problems such as leaks. The project all entailed switching some of the ceilings, adding some more dropdowns, fixing broken and dirty tiles, and even fixing some of the tiles and lighting in the teachers’ lounge. 

Another change that happened as a result of the construction was the start date of school. Originally the first student day of the 2022-23 school year was Aug. 10. But due to the teachers not having access to the building because of the lack of cooling and water, the start day was pushed  back to August 11, allowing the teachers, who were first allowed to enter the school the Saturday before school, to have a work day without any meetings to get their rooms set up. Possibly the biggest challenge to closing down the middle and high school was the impact it had on summer school.  All classes had to be taught at the elementary school. The elementary offered a much more condensed summer school experience than years prior. The middle school decided not to have summer school at all, and DCHS could only offer limited summer school classes. Instead of the two sessions typically offered, only morning classes were available and most of the classes were only for credit recovery.

However, out of the chaos came a lot of good. Most notably the more consistent temperatures throughout the school. But the positives continue. Due to being in the elementary school, the middle and high school teachers got to experience something new while working closely with other staff members. Being together in this environment also forced more collaboration, therefore allowing for everyone involved to be able to talk and plan more. 

The construction is nearly finished, with the exception of five fan coil units that are to be installed in the middle school during fall break. Superintendent Ann-Marie Circle is anxious for the project to be completed. She explained that prior to COVID-19, construction had already started, but it couldn’t be continued due to our having an interim superintendent. When Mrs. Circle took over as superintendent, she made it a priority to get the project finished.