Well, the time has finally come to say goodbye to Knowles Upper School. After 50 years as the main academic center of grades 9-12 at Colorado Academy, the building will be coming down in the next few days. The “decommissioning” process, which includes disconnecting all the utilities and pulling out anything usable from the building, starts immediately, and the actual dismantling of the structure will begin next Wednesday.

It has certainly been a strange week, as faculty have been packing boxes in between teaching their last few classes. Many teachers have appreciated the opportunity to weed out old files, purge their unneeded books, and generally get their materials in order. I would concur that such a process is extremely beneficial and even a little therapeutic. I smiled when reading through files and notes from my first year on the job (2003-2004); but why was I still holding onto them? I discovered books in several boxes that had been stored for at least five years. I hadn’t missed them at all, so I made many of them available to any takers. It was gratifying to see lots of students looking through the used books as well. Somehow I assumed they only read on electronic devices these days! Anyway, after all the packing and purging, I can safely say we will enter a new building without a lot of extra clutter. A fresh start indeed.

Meanwhile, students have been battling spring fever while still extending their last bit of focus on their courses. I have been impressed with their ability to hang in there—all the way through the last AP exam this week.  The release of two much-anticipated publications--Kokopelli (our literary managzine) and Telesis (the yearbook)--put everyone in a great frame of mind.  Admittedly, the seniors have had a harder time keeping their focus; they are almost to the finish line and they are showing many signs that they are indeed ready to move on. Still, there are many culminating moments to come, including Senior Launch week activities next Wednesday-Friday, Interim the following week, Giant Relay Day on June 1, the Awards Assembly, Commencement Dinner and, finally, Commencement itself.

Obviously, all of us who work in the Upper School find ourselves displaced for awhile. Starting Monday, May 21, the entire administrative team of the Upper School will move into various offices and rooms in Raether Library. That also includes the whole college counseling office. The one exception is Liza Skipwith, whose office will be in the Mustang Room in the Campus Center. We will all make do with these arrangements until about August 1 when the temporary buildings are installed in the Stamper Commons. At that point the administrative team will move into one large temporary building, and temporary classroom spaces will be installed to the east of that structure.

From now until Commencement Day, teachers will be finding various spots to hang out when on campus, but for the most part they will do their grading and comment writing from home. Everyone will continue to be reachable by phone or e-mail. Students wishing to study for exams on campus may do so in the library or Campus Center.

As you may have seen in earlier communication, there will be a construction fence around the site of the former building. That means that faculty parking will be moved to usual overflow parking area in the grass at the “Y” on the main road. All student parking will remain in the same locations. Drop off and pick up for Upper Schoolers and Middle Schoolers will move to the west with the turn-around between the front doors of the gym and the south side of Smith Center. Overall, car traffic should be lighter as Upper School students have final exams and will not be required to be on campus except when they need to be there for an exam.  (See Exam schedule posted on the US Portal).

It is always bittersweet to say goodbye to one longstanding structure; many happy CA memories were shared there.  But of course we eagerly anticipate the arrival of a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in January 2013.