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Overcrowding propels St. Mary's growth plan Photo by Bob Pennell An expansion at St. Mary's School, shown in drawing, top right, will ease crowding like the situation in the media room, above. From left (foreground) are students Kendra Gritsch, Elena Lunt, Caitrin O'Connell, Emily Smith (standing) and Libby Trum. In the background, student Hannah Hall, left, talks with English teacher Ann Hunter. $8 million project adds library, media and science centers beginning this fall By JIM DAVIS It's a school without a cafeteria, the lockers sit outdoors and the library and its computer lab are crammed into a temporary building. But St. Mary's School -- the private, independent Catholic institution in east Medford -- will see those and other problems disappear under a plan to more than double its size. "It's going to be awesome," said Chris Burrell, 13, a seventh-grade student who will likely see much of the change. The $8 million project will take form this fall with the expected construction of a library, media and science center. In future years, the school hopes to add more classrooms, a cafeteria, a chapel, a performing arts center and administrative offices. It will increase the building space from an estimated 31,067 to 79,537 square feet. With the expansion, the school eventually hopes to handle nearly 600 students -- almost double this year's enrollment. This comes just a decade after St. Mary's reached an all-time low enrollment of 104 students. "I think we really try to meet the needs of the community," said Barbara Callaway, head of school, who took over when the enrollment was ebbing. The low point came when the Medford School District opened South Medford High School. Callaway was charged with shifting the focus of the school from an alternative to Medford Senior High School to becoming a college preparatory school. As such, the school now has 22 advanced placement classes, more than any other school in the Rogue Valley, said Jacqueline Goodreau, director of external affairs. Goodreau also said 95 percent of students go on to college. And Goodreau and Callaway said the school has benefited from the economic boom of the Rogue Valley -- a trend they expect to continue. The school added grades seven and eight in 1987-'88, and sixth grade in 1992-'93 Enrollment has increased steadily since 1988-89 before topping out a couple of years ago, Goodreau said. This year, 330 students were enrolled from all over Southern Oregon and Northern California. Tuition costs $5,300 per student. Each summer, the school has to turn away qualified students, which is part of the reason for the expansion. The first phase of the project -- a track and parking lot -- was completed in March 1998. The second phase of the expansion is the 24,502-square-foot building that will include the library, media and science center. The building will also include eight classrooms and three labs devoted to chemistry, physics and biology and possibly a greenhouse. Plans for the project will go before the city's Site Plan and Architectural Commission at a meeting at noon Friday at Medford City Hall. The school is paying for the science center and library through donations, and has raised $2 million of the expected $2.5 million cost since last July. "It's very functional," Goodreau said. "It's not a luxurious building by any means, but it's exciting for us." Dave Ruckman, who has taught several classes, including science, at the school for nine years, said the school's biggest limitation is its size. He said classes of biology, physics, chemistry and physical and life sciences have all been taught in the same classroom and labs. "You can imagine what that means in moving students and equipment," he said. Librarian Daurel Coolidge is in her first year at St. Mary's. She's had to accommodate classes trying to do research projects and classes in study hall. Many times, it means switching the study hall students with the research class. "The library, we consider, is the hub of the school," Coolidge said. "Having more room for this center of the school would be a wonderful change." The students also are excited about the changes. School ends Wednesday. Nick Rote, 13, a seventh-grader, said the students usually eat outside or in a classroom during the winter because they don't have a cafeteria. He and Burrell pointed to a snack bar, the campus food option. "It's just a hole in the wall," said Burrell. Rote and Burrell said the library was too cramped. "It's nice, but it's a modular," Burrell said. "`It's kind of hard to work in there." Rote said there are only four tables in the library. "There's usually a bunch of students in there," he said. "The tables are always filled up." Jamie McClure, a St. Mary's freshman, has only one problem with the expansion plans. "I've already been here for three years," McClure said. "So it feels like all this will come when I'm about to leave." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA