A $1.75 million grant Joseph Charter School received in 2013 for facility improvements is coming to fruition with the addition of three classrooms and a gym.

Rhonda Shirley, the school’s superintendent and elementary school principal, explained how expansion has progressed. “Back in the summer of 2010, we had the opportunity to lease our empty building to the Forest Service when their building burned,” Shirley said.

The school already had plans to consolidate to the present upper complex, and the lease helped expedite the process. Grades K-3 made the initial move, which made for tight space. “We converted a hallway that was a weight room into our resource room, and we utilized every single space, including putting a divider into a bigger room and making two smaller ones,” Shirley said.

The school examined funding possibilities, and found the charter school facility funding through the State of Oregon.

Shirley cited the construction of the gym as a necessity as well. “It’s always been a challenge to schedule all our PE classes, particularly with more mandated elementary PE. The middle school teams have to practice at 5:30 or 6 in the morning because high school practices after school, and the board and I thought we needed more space.”

Another reason Shirley gave for the new gym included the need for a covered recess area. To reduce cost, the 7,400 sq. ft. facility utilizes synthetic wood materials instead of traditional hardwood. Also, the gym is slated for athletic practice and instruction, and is built large enough for volleyball practice. The school plans to use the old gym to host official sports games.

“The old gym is in really good shape for as old as it is. We’ve taken really good care of it,” Shirley said.

Construction of the new gym is on schedule with the relatively mild weather during the first part of winter aiding that progress. The block construction of the gym allows for wintertime work on the building, which has a scheduled completion of June 1 of this year, Shirley said.

The three additional classrooms appeared on the 1968 blueprints, when the district built the school. “We just used the ’68 ideas when we built the space,” Shirley said.

The three classrooms, which opened for use on Jan. 12, include a resource room for special education teacher Kristin Albee while teachers Laurie Altringer and Olan Fulfer trade off sharing an adjacent room. The school intends the third room for use as a conference room and a place for reading groups.

“We set our priorities on the classrooms so we could get into them this year. We have such large first-grade and kindergarten classes. Our enrollment’s been good,” Shirley said.

A significant amount of work has been locally contracted, from such firms as Joseph Excavating, Miller Plumbing, Carpet One and Mountain View Glass. W.C. Construction of Elgin is general contractor for the project.