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.