Mt. Eden High School officially closed A Hall and B Hall for construction on June 12, 2023. These two halls will be under construction and are scheduled to reopen by January 2024.
The organization in charge of the school’s construction placed portable classrooms on Mt. Eden’s blacktop. Teachers and counselors who had A and B hall classes and office space have relocated to the portables. Many students now crowd the blacktop on their way in and out of the new CL portables and move further across campus to reach their new classrooms. Additionally, students with lockers in A and B Hall have been forced to use alternative methods for lockers. They are sharing lockers, holding all of their belong- ings, or leaving things behind.
A Hall and B Hall were closed “to start the modernization of the whole school,” said Principal Monique Walton. All classes under construction will have air conditioning, a firm structure for each classroom, and overall a cleaner, fresher area. “We have A.C. now. It’s more spacious here when walking around,” said Senior Ashley Guandique. However, Guandique also mentioned that “the bathrooms are far away now.” Teachers and staff in Portables love the air conditioning because “everything is new, clean, and carpeted,” said CL7 staff and teachers. They also had some similar input on the bathroom distance, saying there is, “no close bathroom. Students and teachers have to walk to the STEAM building.” The staff and teachers of CL-7 also brought up some of the further portables are “a pretty far walk from the rest of the campus,” and “if too many appliances are connected, the power or the wifi momentarily goes out.”
Ultimately, students, teachers, and staff have big changes in the coming years. It is a large project that is going to take time and we will hopefully appreciate the reveal in the end. “It’s exciting to see the work happening. I just hope we’re all excited about it to open, and how they look, and that we’ll see the progress,” emphasized Principal Monique Walton. We can estimate the entire school to be completed by March 2025. Since Mt. Eden was first built, it has not had a major remodel and many feel it is past due.
