New Building Opening For Broken Arrow High School

When students at Broken Arrow High School go back to class after winter break, some will be in a brand new building.

The district built a 93,000 square foot addition to the high school.

It's a state of the art building that will soon be filled with a couple thousand students.

"It just gives you a sense of pride," said Michelle Bergwall, Chief Operating Officer of Broken Arrow Public Schools. "I'm really proud to be in Broken Arrow and see the changes that are taking place for our district."

In the front is a new media center library that is two and a half times bigger than the current one.

"State of the art technology at the front of the building," Bergwall said. "So, that it is a focal point of the campus."

The district hopes chemistry and biology students will have a completely new experience in the science labs.

Each workspace is equipped with everything students will need, which is far different from the school's current labs.

"On this campus, we haven't had a true science lab," said Bergwall. "We may have had some classrooms with sinks, but they weren't necessarily the science labs you need at the high school level."

While developing the plan for the building, administrators were hoping to add a "college feel" to the campus.

So, gathering spaces for study groups were included in the design.

But perhaps one of the coolest spots in the building is the new Black Box Theater.

"This is for our drama classes," said Bergwall. "They will actually have their classes in here, but then if they want to do a one act play or something where they have an audience, that's what the risers are for."

Hallways connect the new building with the old one.

"You can kind of see the new and old. We'll start working on that next, upgrading the existing," Bergwall said.

The district says this expansion was necessary to accommodate Broken Arrow's growth.

It was paid for by a 2009 school bond.