Lakeridge Junior High School in Orem has a new look; students, faculty and staff will find quite a change when they enter the front doors in two weeks.

Construction on the remodel began around October 2008 and is expected to be completed by Aug. 18 for the school's open house. School will begin the next day for seventh-graders and Aug. 20 for eighth- and ninth-grade students.

By the afternoon of the last day of school in May, all the classrooms had been cleaned out and the teachers displays, books and teaching items were stored away. The administrative offices were moved to the other end of the school.

"We've had an interesting year of it," said Lynnae McAllister, the school's registrar. "The whole school had to be completely emptied out. We stored everything in the gym and the lunchroom."

While administrative and secretarial personnel have been relegated to makeshift offices in the choir room, construction crews have been working nearly around the clock to give these same folks a much improved new area in which to work.

"The remodel is just going to make it a more homey, nice atmosphere and more accessible," McAllister said. "The counselors will have bigger ... rooms too."

In November 2006, voters approved a $230 million bond and leeway for new school construction and remodeling in the Alpine School District. Included in the projects was the estimated $5.8 million remodel of Lakeridge.

Among the changes are a new media center, new administrative offices, counseling offices, conference rooms, classrooms, a commons area, wider halls and new hallways. An atrium will allow for natural lighting by the front offices. The school has also had internal upgrades to wiring and lighting.

Science teachers will now have a place for everything, and media center staff hope to have everything in its proper place within the next two weeks. Getting the building all set up for classes and restocking all of the other rooms has kept the custodial crew very busy. Missing when approximately 1,200 students return to school this fall will be the four portable trailer classrooms the school has used for years.

"Our custodians are working their hearts out to get things ready," McAllister said.

The way the remodel and addition make the school look better aesthetically reinforce the good work being done on the inside, said Tim Stay, a member of the Lakeridge school community council. Even with the 300-percent increase in minority student enrollment at Lakeridge over the last seven years, the children are doing much better on test scores and overall academics.

"Our minorities are doing better than anywhere in the district," Stay said. "This construction reflects that internal change."

Lynn Eyestone, chairwoman of the school's community council, lives close to the school and has had opportunities to watch the changes over the summer.

"I think it's beautiful. They have done an outstanding job in look and function," Eyestone said. "It's going to make a huge difference to the students and their learning environment."

Eighth-grade student Claire Eyestone is excited to get back to school. She was shocked when she heard the trailers were gone.

"I think it's really cool," she said of the school's new look. "Before we left we couldn't see what it looked like. It's just sprouted up."

Lynn Eyestone said the Lakeridge remodel has been a long time in coming.

"We've been frustrated in the past. We wished we had this sooner. There are things we still need," she said. "I think it gives students a boost when they have a new look and a new place."

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