By Courtney Fishman, Editor-in-Chief 

As BHS students kick off the 2011-2012 school year, they will be forced to adjust to learning in a facility that is a work in progress.

With the renovation project in full swing, some routines will be altered to accommodate the ongoing construction.

But what exactly will be different?

The number one adjustment will be the use of a tunnel connecting students from the north gym to the 100/200 hallway. According to BHS Principal Robert Hardis, the corridor that used to lead students to the English hallway has completely vanished.

“We have to redirect students in order to get into the 100/200 hall,” said Hardis. “Students will pass through the north gym as if it were a hallway, make a sharp 90° left turn and it’s basically a straight shot to the 100/200 hallway.”

A new entrance was made in the center of the hallway where students will end up after taking this “tunnel.” However, this structure has yet to be completed. Over the next few weeks, students must walk outside to get to their English, history and foreign language classes and by late September the structure will be in place.

Homecoming will still take place in the north gym yet some homecoming rituals will be broken. As a result of the remodeling, the Friday night parade and bonfire have been cancelled. With hazardous materials surrounding the high school it has been deemed unsafe for these events to occur.

On Monday Aug. 22nd, and Tuesday Aug. 23rd, the basement will have its second installment of asbestos abatement and following this removal the basement will be reconstructed into a mechanical room. This process will displace the choir, band orchestra and the engineering and drawing classes. The music electives will be relocated to the auditorium, and engineering and drawing will be in room 503, formerly math teacher Terri Kraus’s room.

“The reason for choosing 503 is because Mr. Alexander’s computer lab also jumped across the hall into 502,” explained Hardis. “For wiring and other purposes it made sense to keep the labs in close proximity to one another.”

While putting the labs next to each other logistically makes sense, placing the music electives in the auditorium may upset some students. The fall play and spring musical will be performed at the middle school instead of the high school because the instruments and risers from the music electives would make it difficult to build a set around. Furthermore, the drama club will not be able to perform a fall or spring preview the Wednesday before the production opens, and will thus have to record clips to show at an assembly.

“Having our high school productions at BMS is definitely going to be a challenge,” said drama club adviser Sheila Heyman. “One big challenge will be the smaller space, this means that our set will be smaller and because of this, my choices of shows, unfortunately, will be mainly governed with the idea of limited space. Another challenge will be that the drama club will have to coordinate our production schedules with the Beachwood Recreation Department.”

The location for white & gold is currently undecided; however, the middle school is reserved in case the music electives hinder the tradition of white & gold being held at BHS.

The sound of hammers may be new for BHS students, but the emphasis on safety remains the same.

“The biggest obstacle that we always face is student safety, explained Turner Construction Site Safety Coordinator Anthony Mirando.  “We have to make sure students take our construction and warning signs seriously, so that they don’t get hurt and that they don’t ruin the project”

“It’s really important that students notice what’s going on around them and stay safe,” said Hardis. “We will come down like a ton of bricks on kids who are purposely making unsafe choices.”