(Seguin) – This year, it just might be the students and staff at A.J. Briesemeister Middle School, who are the most excited about returning to school. That’s because the campus today is not only welcoming new voter approved classroom and building space, but also a new school principal and a whole new way of learning and growing for students grades 6-8.
AJB Principal Linda Guzman, who formerly served as the principal at Patlan Elementary School, says she is excited to help create a new culture of learning at the middle school. She says after a very successful Meet the Teacher event on Thursday, she’s not sure if parents are more excited about the building’s new look, or about the academic changes that will be happening today.
“I just think it’s the kids’ excitement of coming and seeing what else now is new into the building, into the schedule, into their new teachers. Seeing this whole redesign talk, I mean now they are really going to get to experience it with their schedule. There is an A schedule. There’s a B schedule. The A schedule is Monday through Thursday. They will have their normal academic schedule, but Friday is really what we call the Toro Grow Time, and it’s that Friday experience that the students are going to get to work through and it’s just going to be a lot of fun,” said Guzman.
The new curriculum redesign that Guzman mentions is a partnership between the Seguin ISD and the Texas Education Agency. They are working together on the implementation of the System of Great Schools initiative, whcih allocates additional dollars and resources to the middle school.
The Systems of Great Schools initiative announced to the community in the spring is basically a complete overhaul of middle school learning, not only at AJB, but will also be fully modeled at Barnes Middle School. District officials say not only is additional classroom time being allotted each school day, but more innovative concepts in learning and behavioral management are expected across all three middle school grade levels.
Guzman says to have students and their families excited about this new approcach to learning has really motivated the campus’s efforts to see that the program impacts each child, just as it is designed.
“You can hear the excitement. The parents talking about it. The students asking what’s this schedule for? What’s this grow period for? What’s this whole child part for? So, I think it’s going to be great. They get two first days. You know Monday and Friday again,” said Guzman.
Paralleling what is going to happen in the classroom is, of course, the excitement behind the introduction of the school’s newest buildings and renovations as approved by voters in May 2019. As part of that $64.7 million bond package, $39 million was allocated to AJB’s full renovation on the current campus site.
Although the entire project won’t be completed until next school year, the bulk of the project is in place – already providing that new school feel. That’s according to Associate Principal Robert Arriola.
“Obviously, student precaution is always going to be on the forefront, and we will make sure that we have everything safe for our students. What we have completed is our final sixth grade wing. That is done. We have the final seventh grade pod. We have a new awesome cafeteria, high ceilings, (with) natural light. It is beautiful. A new cafetorium (and) theater, so we are really excited about all of these changes that we will be bringing to our campus and that our students will get to experience,” said Arriola.
Arriola says while families last week got a sneak peek of the uniquely designed classroom structure, it’s the kids themselves who will now get to experience how all of these new construction features will pull together for learning.
“We want to thank our Seguin ISD Board (of Trustees) and our community and taxpayers for allowing us to have the new redesign for our school. Our kids deserve a high-class learning environment, and we are glad to provide that to our students and the way the school was designed was that our classroom pods are set up for collaboration, so you do have garage doors that lift for classes, allow for collaborative spaces to go into – not just for your classroom but be able to expand your classroom in and out. All the furniture that was selected is on wheels for mobility so that things can be moved and shifted. We don’t just want kids to be stuck in a classroom all day long. We want them to be able to experience (more) — to go in and out and merge with other classrooms. So it’s a big big difference from what AJB used to look like and we are excited to push into our final year of construction which obviously that will focus on our library, our front office an then our fine arts section which we will get pretty soon here at the end of the semester,” said Arriola.
Although it’s on its way to being a totally new building, Arriola says many families, who recently visited this latest phase of the construction project, were already impressed by the work that’s been done thus far.
“Oh, that’s it’s beautiful. They love it. I had parents that came to AJB and were like ‘this is not the AJB I came too. Where is the locker mall? Where is the outdoor theater and so they are really excited to see what their kids are going to be experiencing. We have a beautiful high school, and they are excited that their kids will be coming to a beautiful middle school so yes, a lot of parents are really excited for all the changes that are happening at AJB,” said Arriola.
Among those who was impressed with not only the building but also the learning that is expected to take place this coming school year, was Mother Jill Lucker. Lucker, who was on hand during Thursday’s Meet the Teacher, says she couldn’t be more excited for her son, Wyatt, an incoming sixth grader.
“I love the new schedule. The new Friday (schedule), where they are going to help them grow and that’s where they can get the extra study time if they need it and actually learn some skills too. All the teachers seem so excited and knowledgeable and it’s like they are all state-of-the-classrooms now. Like, I’m super impressed,” said Lucker.
Guzman says to ensure success and progress, changes needed to happen. She says she is honored to have been given those reigns for the AJB campus.
“We are turning things around. We have some excellent students here and it’s really about building excellence, and I think I have a great team here and we are going to take this school to the next level. It’s going to take all of us. It’s going to take the community. It’s going to take our parents and our students to work together because they can do it. They can do it!” said Guzman.
The A.J.B. campus is the final project piece of the May 2019 bond issue that is on its way toward completion. Other projects included in that voter approved bond issue were the construction of a new Matador Stadium and renovations at Jefferson Avenue Elementary School.