NEW HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL EXPECTS ON-TIME OPENING.Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer VALENCIA - West Ranch High School West Ranch High School is a public high school in the community of Stevenson Ranch, Los Angeles County, California. Mr. Bob Vincent has been the school's principal ever since it opened in 2004. Principal Bob Vincent leaned over Wednesday to point out a scratch on the floor of the school's soon-to-be-opened gym. It wasn't to scold SCOLD. A woman who by her habit of scolding becomes a nuisance to the neighborhood, is called a common scold. Vide Common Scold. the construction crews working steadily to have the school ready for opening Aug. 15, but to show off the Wildcat wildcat, common name of two Old World cats, the European wildcat, Felis sylvestris, of Europe and W Asia, and the African wildcat, or kaffir cat, F. lybica, of Africa and Asia. logo on the wooden floors of the basketball court. ``Our computer teacher, Dan Doggett, designed the logo with the school's initials and a paw (tool) PAW - Physics Analysis Workbench. clawing through them,'' he said, pointing to the centerpiece of the gym floor. ``But I really like what he did with the name,'' indicating a distinctive 'Wildcats' applied to the floor with four jagged tears that go down to the wood. West Ranch High opened in August 2004 with 680 freshmen - who are now incoming 10th-graders - at a temporary location across Valencia Boulevard on the campus of Rancho Pico Junior High. They will soon be joined by a freshman class of 725 students for whom Vincent has hired 30 additional teachers. Stacks of file boxes filled with supplies, each labeled with a new instructor's name, line the administration office walls. Vincent has been involved with the design of the school since its inception. The floor plan is almost the same as Golden Valley High School's, with a few tweaks here and there to make buildings and staff movement more efficient. Vincent and Golden Valley Principal Jacque Snyder spent a lot of time on Snyder's new campus to see what worked and what didn't. Vincent also took student preferences into account. A planned print shop near the outside amphitheater was switched to accommodate cooking classes in response to an interest survey and industry trends. ``The culinary arts are just taking off right now,'' Vincent said. ``We want to do everything we can to prepare our students for the future.'' ``I got to pick the carpet color and the slate on the side panels of the building,'' he added. ``I walked through the campus every day for the last two years, so I know the contractors by name and was able to watch this campus grow from the ground up. Construction is right on schedule.'' As Vincent toured the hilltop campus, landscape contractors planted trees and other greenery for shade and protection from the elements for students while electricians and carpenters put finishing touches finishing touches finish npl the finishing touches → der letzte Schliff finishing touches npl → ultimi ritocchi mpl on classrooms and offices. Cement trucks rumbled through the parking lots, and workers crisscrossed criss·cross v. criss·crossed, criss·cross·ing, criss·cross·es v.tr. 1. To mark with crossing lines. 2. the campus, bringing equipment and materials to various rooms in preparation for opening day. Most of the workers buzzed around the largest building on campus, which will serve as a gym, performing-arts and food-service complex. The building is composed of 4 million blocks on 2 acres, Vincent said. Work began on the campus Sept. 15. The gym, food-service and audio-video production areas are scheduled to open in August. The district is using West Ranch's gym to try out an energy-efficient, indirect evaporative cooling Evaporative cooling is a physical phenomenon in which evaporation of a liquid, typically into surrounding air, cools an object or a liquid in contact with it. Latent heat describes the amount of heat that is needed to evaporate the liquid; this heat comes from the liquid itself and system that seemed to be working in the midday heat. Touring what he calls the ``West Ranch Grill,'' Vincent showed off three large counter areas that will serve traditional lunches; a food bar for soup, sandwiches and salads; and a ``pastry kitchen'' that will handle the school's breakfast crowd. A large kitchen behind the grill will serve as a central one for schools on the district's west side, including Hart, Valencia and Saugus high schools Saugus High School may refer to:
The complex also includes a 550-seat theater that will be completed in 2006 as part of the second phase of the school's construction. Standing on the concrete stage floor with workers bustling around him, Vincent pointed out the tiered seating Noun 1. tiered seat - seating that is arranged in sloping tiers so that spectators in the back can see over the heads of those in front amphitheater, amphitheatre - a sloping gallery with seats for spectators (as in an operating room or theater) , lighting grids, high proscenium arch proscenium arch n. In theatrical design, the arch that frames a stage, separating it from the auditorium. Noun 1. proscenium arch - the arch over the opening in the proscenium wall and fly space backed by a roomy shop for scenery. As he traveled, he made notes of things that would have to be moved and changed to accommodate theater and music classes - such as ducting duct·ing n. 1. A duct or system of ducts. 2. Material for making ducts. to be repositioned and light bars to be raised. Beyond the parking lot, with 600 spaces for students' cars even though the Class of 2008 won't drive for another year, heavy-equipment operators were preparing the ground for a $5 million football field that Vincent said would be ``stadium ready'' in case a donor came around with lights and bleachers. ``We're ready,'' he said. Carol Rock, (661) 257-5252 carol.rock(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Construction workers are putting finishing touches on new West Ranch High School, scheduled to open on Aug. 15. (2 -- color) Landscaping will be added around West Ranch High School's concrete nameplate. (3) Turf has taken hold on most of the campus at new West Ranch High School in Stevenson Ranch Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. . (4) Work, including construction cleanup, is on schedule at a new Stevenson Ranch high school. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion