North High photos

part of the continuing "thought you might like to see this" series of photos from WPS!
Having missed all the previously scheduled tours of the new North High for School Committee members, yesterday I went by and got a tour (from a very patient and thorough Jim Bedard, who is in charge of facilities for the district).

Here's the main entrance.

 The main entrance faces the direction of the old North and the Ecotarium, and, unlike a lot of large modern buildings, it has what is clearly a main door.

The cafeteria is down the hall to the left of the entrance. It's a beautifully bright room:

 (I did get to see all the kitchens, too. Lots of stainless steel. There's also a loading door directly next to the kitchens, as North will be one of the serving kitchens for the district, sending food to the schools that don't have kitchens in-house.)
The wing to the left of the main doors holds the theater and the gym. Here's the theater:

 A couple of things of note: the stage is entirely accessible (in fact, it does not have stairs from the audience side at all; there is a lift in the green room backstage). It's all light-colored wood.
Directly next to it is the music room:

 (Note that WPS has only been in there a few days; lots of moving boxes!). Next to the music room is the art room, so all communicate fairly directly with the theater. Very thoughtful placement.
Downstairs at the end of the building closest to the old school is the new (full-size!) gym:

 They were still letting the finish on the floors dry, so this is a peek through the window. You can just make out the polar bear print in the center of the floor.
On the second floor, looking again towards the Ecotarium (you can just see the bumped-out section on the first photo), is the library:

The librarian has just gotten in there this week and is unpacking!
While I didn't take any photos of the classrooms, I did grab this shot out the fourth floor classroom at the back corner of the building (this is facing Hamilton Street);

I also did not take any photos of the roof (yes, the roof!), but it is white (to save energy), and part of it will be getting solar panels. There's also an array of machinery that does things like pull the heat out of air, exchange it with fresh air, and send it back into the building (to save energy) in winter.
The dedication is scheduled for Sunday, October 16 at 1 pm.