Our New Building: Bigger and Better
The ZIS Middle School is moving to a new building in Adliswil in August 2022. This article is about the transition and opinions of people at the current school building. The new facility is advertised as bigger and better, but what will it offer? We are here to find the answers. So let’s dig deep and find the answer.
The Campaign for ZIS
In the year 2020, the school’s leadership team broke ground on a new, state-of-the-art building. ZIS would need a new school with better learning opportunities, bigger hallways, and a campus for students and teachers to access classrooms and materials with as much ease as possible.
The building is said to be finished near the end of the summer break in 2022 and will be filled with students after the break. The new building is more modern and has bigger hallways for people to get around without traffic jams in the hallways which were more jam-packed in the current building.
A Bigger, Better Building
The initial step was getting to the bottom of things and deciding to do some interviews. The first person to be interviewed was Mr. Wood, the Principal, to ask some questions about the new building. When asked about some reasons that weren’t as obvious about the transfer, Mr. Wood stated that we want students to learn socially and independently. For that, we need bigger classrooms. The rooms at the current building are pretty small, and there can’t be too many people in the rooms, so there isn’t much opportunity for independent learning.
Currently, there are also clubs that middle school students need to walk to, and not a lot of buses go there. Examples of these clubs are Soccer, Yearbook, Climbing club, and Table Tennis. That’s why the School Leadership Team made the calculated decision of putting the Middle School next to the High School. Mr. Wood said- We want to have a building next to the upper school because we can then operate with ATAC activities better and share, making transitions easier.
Because of the size of the new building, it makes sense that the school can have more students now that the school is so gigantic. Mr. Wood says that the installation can hold 360 students! Compared to the current building, we can only hold 310 students. It makes sense because we don’t have a lot of space for an influx of students at the current school building because of the number of hallways and the size of classrooms. After all, it would be too crowded in the small building. The Villa doesn’t only have the space to have more students, but also more classrooms. In addition, the new building has a media center, rooftop, science labs, triple gym elevator, and an educational kitchen, in which you can learn to cook food.
Changes in PE Class
As we are changing school buildings, there will be a difference in how PE looks like. Interviewing Mr. Haken, he stated- we would be indoors for most of the lessons. If it’s raining, we don’t need to get wet out in the open. PE will be in either the triple gym or dancing studio. Outdoor classes will be in the forest, in Adliswil, and on the field. According to Mr. Haken, cross country and invasion sports will be outdoors. Autumn and winter seasons will be mainly indoor sports. In spring, we will do more outdoor activities.
An Image of what the Triple Gym is advertised to look like.
A New Approach to the Turkey Trot
Another thing to mention is the Turkey Trot. It’s a very old tradition that the whole middle school runs in the woods, and for every run, there is a winner. It’s been going on for about 17 years now. The PE teachers are deciding whether they relocate the run or keep it where it is.
Many people are excited about the new building but regret leaving the Villa. When asked how Mr. Haken felt about leaving the Villa, he shared that- he’s happy to go to a new building but sad to leave the villa. People are excited about better learning opportunities but sorry to leave the historic Villa we currently reside in. While our future is advertised as “bigger and better,” many of us are sad to leave the Villa.
