North Vermilion Middle will be open on Monday

Monday will be a big day for 513 students, 33 teachers, office workers and two administrators of the brand new North Vermilion Middle School.
The doors officially open to the brand new school that day.
After sharing North Vermilion High for the last four weeks because NV Middle was not ready, sixth, seventh and eighth graders will be moving into their own school. The school is located behind North Vermilion High School.
This weekend, starting Friday morning, teachers and administrators began hauling boxes into their new classrooms and offices while contractors were busy making the final touches to the school.
Many teachers are expected to spend today getting their classrooms ready for Monday’s big day.
Renee Garrot was busy Friday getting her eighth grade classroom ready.
“The kids are excited and thrilled,” said Garrot.
Garrot praised the North Vermilion Middle School administration, principal Joan Romero and assistant principal Mike Gaspard, for making the transition go smoothly.
Romero was also busy Friday and this weekend making sure all the electronics, lights, AC, bells, intercom and the small stuff all work properly.
“Right now we are transitioning from the high school to the middle school,” said Romero on Friday. “It is not complete, but we will hit the ground running.”
The interior of the school is 100 percent complete, Romero said. Building covered walkways over the sidewalks still needs to be done. The middle school band room is about a month from completion, and the middle school gym is also not complete.
By December, Romero hopes the school will be 100 percent complete.
Because the new front entrance of the middle school is not complete, students will be dropped off in front of the high school. North Vermilion Middle School students are being asked to go to the North Vermilion High School gymnasium. The students will be paired up with the teachers and escorted to their classrooms by the teachers.
The students will also be given a map of the middle school with the teachers’ classroom numbers. They were able to see the inside of the middle school on Thursday.
Superintendent Jerome Puyau was at the school Friday looking at the buildings and grounds.
“I am happy it is opening so we can get on a normal schedule for students and teachers,” Puyau said.