Current MS
The New Paltz Middle School, which was built in 1930, currently serves about 650 students in Grades 6-8. The District’s 
shipping/receiving and main kitchen for the entire District are also both located on this campus.
Although the building is 78-years old, it has been well maintained. Major construction to expand the building was done in 1966, and portions of the infrastructure were updated in 1998. The District’s professional consultants who inspected the building (the Greenwood Corporation) did not indicate any severe structural issues and only a minimal level of short term health/safety issues.
What the building does lack, however, is:
- a modern infrastructure needed for reliable, energy-efficient, cost-effective daily occupancy and operation.
- compliance with the standards of today’s building codes.
- physical design that can meet the demands of educational programming needed to comply with State Education Department mandates.
- elements of a 21st Century Learning environment that allows students to thrive, not just survive, when faced with modern curriculum that is infused with a high level of technological excellence and is designed to enhance both teaching and learning.
- the ability to expand (because it is land locked) to fully incorporate modern instructional designs, ADA compliance, and parking area expansion, which have long-term operating implications.
The District’s Building Conditions Survey advised that extensive renovation to the infrastructure at all levels will be necessary to continue serving the community as a Middle School in the years to come. This mandated report identified over 50 items costing more than $10 Million, just to allow the building to continue to function in its current capacity. To look at the types of change needed to offer 21st Century Learning opportunities would require an even greater investment.
The photos below represent a few of the building’s deficiencies. The years are showing the wear and weathering the building has endured in areas over time. There are stairwells and hallways that do not meet ADA requirements (Americans with Disabilities Act). Classroom space is tight. More information about the potential upgrades and repairs for the Middle School will be provided as information from the architects/engineers are developed.
