Dalton High growing

DALTON, Ga. — Dalton High School’s current building opened when Gerald Ford was president and videocassette machines were the height of technology in most schools.

A new two-story wing that adds almost 80,000 square feet to the existing building “is the first addition to the school since 1976,” principal Debbie Freeman said, proudly pointing out details of the new building.

Dalton High has remained its original size since the first bell rang more than three decades ago, and Freeman said she is thrilled with its first growth spurt.

The $13.4 million addition gives Dalton High a new culinary arts classroom and cooking lab, a horticulture classroom and space already prepped for a greenhouse. It also has more common areas for students to work together outside classrooms and an auditoriumlike lecture hall that can hold dozens of students or even community members who need a place to hold events, she said.

Freeman said she especially is proud of Mama Cat’s Cyber Café, a trendy commons area with Wi-Fi access that has a striking design and decor featuring lots of the school’s Catamount logo and its red and white school colors. Mama Cat’s is a memorial to longtime teacher Beth Nysewander, who died in 2007.

The new wing project also includs renovations and the addition of six new serving lines in the school’s kitchen, a makeover for the school’s primary commons area and updates for JROTC spaces, Freeman said.

Officials sought opinions from students, who wanted more windows, more room to study outside their classrooms and more space in general, she said.

Freshman Imelda Lopez likes the changes.

“There’s more space and room to walk in halls,” Imelda said as she studied in the wing’s English language learning lab.

The additional space in hallways and classrooms relieves some of the between-classes crush, the 14-year-old said.

“It looks good,” she said.

Officials said furnishings now lend themselves more to group projects, with students seated at tables rather than individual desks. The additional windows add a view to some classes for the first time.

“There’s no question this is a beautiful facility,” science teacher Tony Carlson said, smiling while gazing through his window on the world outside. “The design is nice, and it’s a good size.”

“For the past 10 years I had no window, and I didn’t even know when it was raining outside,” Carlson said.

Facilities are well equipped and the rooms are quieter, Carlson said, adding with a laugh that students even compliment the wing’s bathrooms, telling fellow students they should check them out.

Dalton Board of Education Chairman Steve Williams said the original building was described as “innovative” when it opened in the 1970s, and the addition helps maintain that status.

“We have been able to accommodate more than three decades of growth and change in that original structure,” Williams said.