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By Teresa Thomas February 02. 2016 5:50PM New digs planned for Grace Christian middle schoolers at Cascade Christian High Eighth-graders Parker Griffin, left, Michael Croy and Lauren Andercuk participate in a physical education class Tuesday at Grace Christian School. Mail Tribune/ Denise Baratta This fall, Grace Christian School plans to relocate its nearly 150 sixth- through eighth-grade students to a new middle school on the Cascade Christian High School campus. Construction on the new middle school, which will be located on the second floor of the high school, is slated to begin sometime later this month, school officials say. The $1.9 million renovation will include adding nine classrooms, a kitchen, a staff area, a green space behind the school and three large meeting rooms for chapel, assemblies and other functions. “We want middle-level students to be in an environment that inspires their learning, gives them a place of belonging and allows them to build on their natural talents, access additional opportunities for experience-based classes, get support from older students and grow in their faith,” said Devon Rickabaugh, head of Grace Cascade Christian Schools. Although the middle school will share an entrance and gymnasium with the high school, it will have separate hallways, bathrooms and common areas, said Dave Fennell, the schools’ director of advancement and athletics. “We are working hard to create a truly distinct middle school experience,” Fennell said. Grace Christian School was established in 1974 by First Baptist Church leadership and has shared the church’s facility on Crater Lake Avenue ever since. Cascade Christian High School has had several locations over the years, but in 2007 it moved into its new state-of-the-art building on Chevy Way in Medford. Both schools operate as part of Grace Cascade Christian Schools, a nonprofit Christian school system. “The Grace campus is a tired facility for middle school kids, and we want to give people the best learning environment possible and that’s what this (move) will accomplish,” Fennell said, adding that the new middle school will feature large classrooms with high ceilings and lots of natural light. When the high school was built, the designers had the forethought to include an extra 25,000 square feet of space on the second floor for a middle school and future expansion, Fennell explained. “For the last couple years, the space has just been used for storage,” he said. “We call it the ‘dead zone.’ ” There also are administrative offices and four high school classrooms, a lab and a conference room on the second floor of the high school. However, the middle school will not be accessible from those classrooms. The new middle school was part of Rickabaugh’s vision and will provide continuity for those students who plan to attend the high school, Fennell said. There are currently 245 students enrolled in Cascade Christian High School and 145 middle school students enrolled in Grace Christian School. “The current structure is such that there is room for both the middle school and high school to grow,” Rickabaugh said. Cascade Christian High School Principal and former Medford School District Superintendent Phil Long will oversee the entire secondary school starting this fall. Since July, the schools have raised nearly $1.3 million for the project through a private fundraising campaign. “It’s been pretty remarkable how much has been done in a short amount of time,” Fennell said. “But $600,000 is still a significant amount of money to be raised.” Donations are being taken at www.onecampaign.fund. Blueprints and other details about the project are available on the website. Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . Correction: The photo caption in this version of the story has been changed to include the name of Michael Croy, who was incorrectly identified in the original version of the story. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20160202/NEWS/160209914 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->