MILLTOWN — The start of the summer at Saint Mark’s High School has brought plenty of activity to the campus. Instead of students, faculty and staff, however, the source of the noise has been power tools and the workers wielding them to remake parts of the school’s interior, and a small part outside as well.
When classes resume in late August, some new offerings will be waiting for the approximately 830 students the school is expecting. Building on the esports studio that opened last year, a robotics lab will occupy about 3,200 square feet where previously there were three classrooms. Saint Mark’s will offer classes during the day — three to start — along with some competitive robotics, school president Tom Fertal said.
“We always talk about the jobs of tomorrow,” Fertal said. “Well, those jobs are here now. This is getting kids exposure to the jobs that are emerging right now.”
Fertal said juniors and seniors will be more likely to be able to take the robotics classes, at least at the start. All students, however, can become involved through clubs and competitions. Saint Mark’s will compete in the First Robotics league. And it’s more than robotics, he added.
“We’ve been calling it the robotics, innovation, engineering lab,” he said.
The addition of the lab was announced last fall as part of an $8 million capital campaign, “Renewing the Vision: The Campaign for Saint Mark’s High School.” It will touch nearly every aspect of student life at the school. Improvements to the theater program have been completed, with more to come, and the esports center also is part of the campaign.
One of the other projects made possible by the capital campaign is the expansion of the broadcast studio, which is being developed into a multimedia media lab. Saint Mark’s will offer courses in broadcasting and media production, and they will produce a morning news show. The school will have clubs related to the lab, and they will add livestreaming of athletics and esports, Fertal said.
Despite changes in how people receive information, “it’s a field that’s not going away in the strictest sense,” Fertal said. “It’s broadcasting, but it’s also video production, editing.”
Students have the ability to do video production on their phones and computers, but those can’t take the place of professional equipment and instruction, he added.
Both the robotics lab and the broadcast studio will feature large windows so that people can watch the proceedings from the hallway.
Outside, a pavilion has risen at one end of the parking lot where the convent used to be. Wiring was being added in the first week of July, and some decorative touches were being completed. The pavilion will have room for 150 people and will host all sorts of events, according to Fertal. It will also serve as an outdoor classroom.
One project that had not begun as of the first week of July but that is scheduled to be ready by the time students return is a ropes course near the pavilion. It will help with team building and leadership training, Fertal said. Thirty Saint Mark’s students will be trained as facilitators on the course so they can assist students from middle schools who will be invited to the campus for retreats or other events.
The other facilities also will be opened up to middle schools as well, Fertal said.
Some of the other work that is not generating as much literal noise includes upgrades to sound and lighting in the theater, along with renovations to both of Saint Mark’s art studios. A new kiln will be on campus soon for a full-time pottery teacher, the president continued.
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