New Beginnings for Central Office
Many students are well aware of the many changes happening here. Whether it is the new booths in the commons or the new classrooms that have yet to be revealed, ADM has made a lot of new changes this year. One thing that the students here may not be aware of is the moving of the central office to the old middle school. Many factors played into why the central office was moved.
“We started to study what we needed to do as a district to plan for our increased enrollment,” said Superintendent Greg Dufoe. “We were growing. At that point this building was vacant. So, we needed to decide if there was a use for this building as part of our overall plan to deal with growth.”
Converting the middle school to the Central Office wasn’t the only option for the district.
“We had a committee study possible uses for this building,” said Dufoe. “We looked at bringing students and classrooms back in here, but did not find that to be a viable option bearing the cost it would take to improve the building enough. We came to the conclusion that we needed more office space for the central office. So, it was really a part of our overall response by us to deal with our growth.”
The hardest part of this move was the transition from building to building.
“The transition was just like if you have ever moved your home, you know, we felt just like that. Nobody likes to move. So, we moved over Christmas break,” Dufoe said. “Our staff did a really nice job, but it was certainly a tough transition like any other move. It was good for me personally because what I was able to do was completely go through all the stuff that I had from the previous office, so now I am much more organized.”
The visit to the old middle school was very nostalgic for me, as it was very strange seeing old classrooms and libraries turned into offices and conference rooms. I even made it a point to find my old locker. I would encourage any seniors to considering taking time out of their day to go see a place they once called a school, and take a look at what progress and changed that building has made.
