Bricks were falling and dust was flying as one of Davis County's oldest schools came to the ground last week to make room for a new and improved North Davis Junior High.
Like Davis High School, the new school was built on the same school grounds as the old one; after the new one went up, the old one came down.
Students and alumni lined up to watch as the old building took the first few blows from demolition equipment.
"It's really really sad," said Shayla Blair, 15, who was a cheerleader at the school last year. "We have a lot of memories at that school that have to be left behind."
The new school is part of the district's $190 million 2002 building improvement and construction plan that involved 176 separate projects across the district.
The school was originally built in 1939 and had six additions throughout the years.
But over time the building began to show its age. Some of the classrooms were only 500 to 600 square feet — today's standard is 900 square feet. And the school received a "poor" to "very poor" rating from Reaveley Engineering and Associates Inc. regarding its ability to hold up during an earthquake.
The new facility is spacious, sound and offers technical support and instructional opportunities for teachers that the old school wasn't able to. It is designed with learning houses, that is, areas and classrooms dedicated to each grade in the school — similar to West Point Junior High's design.
Students are able to attend their core classes in the same "house" in the school with peers in their grade. Then they venture out — creating a more nurturing environment for students making the transition to secondary education.
Plus with the close proximity of classrooms in the houses, the school is set up to support and promote collaboration between teachers.
It also has an open and spacious commons area where flags from 42 countries hang representing the nationalities of the school's students.
"We all are so excited; we have teachers coming in already starting to get things together," said Curtis Stromberg, North Davis' principal. "You never have that — teachers usually love their summers, but they are in here this year."
The school, in a partnership with Clearfield City, also has a gym complete with an upper-level jogging track and four, full-size basket ball courts. The school uses it during the day and the community has access to it during the early mornings and evenings.
The community is invited to a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 23, at 5 p.m. at the school followed by a back-to-school night.
E-mail: terickson@desnews.com