Rachel Gittleman '04

Looking out of a window in John Louis, it's impossible to miss the huge red and white modular units covering the entire field behind the dorm. These are the new modular science classrooms as constructed thus far, and they will be the home of the science department for the next two years. By the time school starts in September, these units will be the home of a new, high-tech set of fully functioning classrooms.

Although these $1.1 million moveable classrooms are only temporary, the school is leasing them for the time during which the new science center is being completed. These are no ordinary trailers. In what is being called "The Science Center at Chapin Field," there will be four modular units. All sections will include classrooms, and in addition the north section will house information technology and a computer lab, the central section a reception area, and the east module a faculty area. Essentially, the modules will be missing only the planetarium from the old science center, although the astronomy observatory will still be up and running. Not only will the "mods" be perfectly adequate for having class, but they will also be aesthetically pleasing. The portable classrooms will have wide corridors, full carpeting, bright areas, and decoration, along with full plumbing and heating. When school starts up again next fall, Chapin Field will be landscaped.

Even though these are mobile classrooms, the science program will not suffer, and the science department feels very strongly about their sufficiency. "All kinds of negatives are associated with modular classrooms, but all of us are comfortable that we can run a quality science program in them," said David Howell, a physics and astronomy teacher who has been involved in the planning. He also added that we "shouldn't feel at all that students will lose any of their learning experience."

The temporary science facility will be substantially completed by late May and the transfer from the science center will take place during the exam period and through June.