When the school year draws to a close, so will the doors of Coupeville High School.

It is scheduled for demolition this summer once school is dismissed.

Fortunately, students won’t be homeless next fall. A spanking new building will be ready for students after summer vacation.

School staff and community leaders are starting to take tours of the new building, which is funded by a bond voters approved in 2004.

The walls and roof are going up on the school’s vocational and technical wings, and lab equipment is being installed in the building’s four new science classrooms.

“The district has gone all out in supporting math and science,” said Gary Goltz, construction manager for the Coupeville School District.

The workers installed fume hoods and will place countertops on the lab stations in coming weeks.

The project is not highly visible from the street as the two-story school is being constructed behind the old high school building.

Goltz highlighted the “breakout rooms” that are scattered throughout the building. These rooms provide extra space that will come in handy if classes combine to work together on a special project. There are also nearby work rooms that provide additional equipment such as printers for classes.

Construction of the $15 million high school building is currently on schedule and on budget. Goltz said it should be ready in time for the school year beginning next September.

He said the toughest job will be demolishing the current high school and installing a new courtyard in its place. Demolition can’t take place until staff finishes up for the school year in the summer.

In addition to a new classroom building, work crews are busy building a $4 million auxiliary gym.

The school district needs the auxiliary gym finished to replace the one that will be demolished when the current high school comes down.

The second gym, which is going up next to the main gym, will have a basketball court, locker rooms an expanded weight room and a health room. The expanded gym is needed for classes and athletic events, and that building, too, is scheduled to be finished in time for the 2007-2008 school year.

Motorists will also see a change to South Main Street when construction is complete. An island will be constructed on South Main Street near the intersection with Terry Road.

The island will be placed in the center of the road and it should make it easier for students to cross the road when going to and from gym classes.

The new school also features new facilities for the art and music programs. The music room has thick walls that helps with soundproofing. Goltz said there basically two separate walls which help prevent music from reverberating throughout the building.

The new building will allow quite a bit more light into the school than is presently the case.

Two breakout rooms are located halfway down a corridor where windows comprise the outside wall. The second-story breakout room overlooks the lower level one. That helps more natural light come into the lower level.

Goltz also points out the light shelves that are installed on the windows in ground level rooms. Those shelves help reflect more light farther into rooms, which helps brighten the learning environment and help lower utility bills.

The auxiliary gym construction will force one notable change this June. The graduation ceremony, which normally takes place in the main gym, will move. The class of 2007 will graduate outside at Mickey Clark Field.

Superintendent Bill Myhr said recent graduations have benefited from nice weather and he hopes to see the same this June.

However, if it looks like rain could dampen the ceremony, then the Coupeville School District would rent a gym at a school in Oak Harbor.