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Most exterior walls at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Middle School are done and work has begun on interior walls, said Paul Uhren, principal at Trempealeau Elementary and G-E-T Middle schools.
Crews will soon put a roof on the building along Hwy. 53, just north of the high school in Galesville, and start on interior and brick work, Uhren said.
Construction at the estimated 70,000-square-foot building is “still on schedule” to open Sept. 8, 2009, Uhren said. It is estimated the project will cost $9 million.
The current middle school is housed in a 1932-built school that is attached to Trempealeau Elementary in Trempealeau.
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District voters in November 2007 approved a nearly $15 million referendum for the middle school and other building improvements. They had rejected a 2005 referendum to build a new high school and convert the current high school into a middle school.
The new school will have classroom areas n separated by grades in what the district calls “pods” n on one side of the building and high-traffic areas such as the gymnasium, cafeteria and office on the other side. The building entrance will be open in the office to improve security, Superintendent Troy Gunderson said.
Sixth-graders will shift next school year from elementary schools to the new middle school, and kindergartners will leave the Kindernook center in Galesville and return to their local elementary schools.
