Plans and spaces
Today’s learners are interested in adding to their band, orchestra, and choir experiences by studying music production, digital music creation and composition, technical theater production, rock, hip-hop and pop vocal styles, and more. Our student body has outgrown the square footage provided by our current facility and surpasses even what would be provided by the districts allocated budget for new space. Classrooms are cramped and hot, productions are limited by the theater space, and technical learning and production can barely happen today.
We need to go above and beyond, and provide our students with the spaces, technology, and capabilities that will allow them to have rich experiences in the arts, forming life long friendships, building skills, and becoming the artists, visionaries, and creators of the next generation.
A new auditorium
The bands and orchestras hardly fit on the stage today, and staging for musicals is limited due to a lack of space.
The centerpiece of the performing arts wing, a new auditorium/theater will offer more space for student performers and audiences alike, with improved acoustics, accessibility, staging capabilities, and more.
Pictured left: the recently renovated auditorium at Verona Area High School
Digital Creation Studios
Equipped with current technology, the digital creation studios will allow the school to offer opportunities for students to learn the skills to prepare them for professional careers in graphic design, music production, television and broadcast, and applied arts.
Students enrolled in Hip Hop Studies need sufficiently equipped spaces to create music and video. This is a high interest area for many of our students, and the addition of a studio would provide opportunities for personal expression through music and video.
Larger music rooms
The music classrooms for band, orchestra, and choir are woefully lacking in space. Students are cramped, there’s little room for instrument storage, and the rooms lack modern day technology for teachers.
Our plan would create new, larger classrooms with improved acoustics and ventilation, and would equip teachers with technology that supports accessibility and contemporary methodology.
Scene shop and tech
The technical side of performing arts programs are often overlooked, but many students and alums have built lasting friendships and career skills by participating in stage crew and the technical side of theater.
Today’s “scene shop” is a loft where wood is stored, and most construction happens in the hallways and cafeterias of the school.
This plan adds a true scene shop, professional rigging, lighting and projection, orchestra pit, and backstage space. These improvements will not only improve the capabilities and safety of the backstage and behind-the-scenes spaces, but will also create greater learning opportunities for students in stagecraft, design, lighting, sound, design, and technical theatre.
View from Gammon Road
View from Memorial Way
View from entrance plaza
Elevation view from Gammon Rd.
View of new commons entrance and performing arts wing
View of entrance and stone memorial
Aerial view from above Gammon Rd.