BASD Celebrates New Karcher Middle School with Ribbon Cutting
A dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony was held last week Tuesday to celebrate the completion of Burlington Area School District's new $35M Karcher Middle School.
The 145,000-square-foot school will now serve more than 700 students and features a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient facility for grades six through eight. The new school includes several core curriculum classrooms as well as special education, and spaces for elective programming including STEM education, art, band, orchestra and choir. Construction also included a new gymnasium, fitness room, locker rooms, and enhanced common areas including a library with flexible learning spaces, cafeteria and staff offices, and enhanced safety and security measures throughout.
The new school was designed and built to encourage students to use every space for learning. For example, wider wing corridors provide room for students to collaborate on project-based learning. The building also features tons of windows and natural light to make the inside feel more open.
“The Burlington Area School District continues to grow, and we’re excited to be able to help them do that with the best equipment and learning technology available,” explained Dan Bay, Sr. Project Manager of Scherrer Construction. “As learning continues to evolve, Scherrer is proud to be at the forefront of creating enhanced learning spaces for children to excel in school.”
The original Karcher Middle School was built in 1924 and was nearly 100 years old. The building was past its useful life and no longer served the needs of today’s 21st century learning environment. Scherrer completed upgrades to several other BASD schools over the summer as part of the district's strategic plan for district-wide building improvements.
From left to right: Nick Ryan (Karcher School Principal), Jim Scherrer (Scherrer Construction), Peter Turke (BASD School Board President), Nick Kent (Plunkett Raysich Architects), and Dr. Stephen Plank (BASD Superintendent).
Image of front entry way of new Karcher Middle School in Burlington, WI.
Image of new Karcher Middle School library in Burlington, WI.