How will Additional Classrooms Meet Jerusalem’s Current Needs and Plans for Growth?

Imagine being a 7th grade student walking into school first thing in the morning. As you approach your

“classroom,” you can’t sit down because there is no chair or table. You need to get your chair and table from the closet. You grab them, set them up, and then head down to the basement of the building. You spot your milk crate containing all your class items - books, pens, pencils, calculator, and computer. As you drag your milk crate containing all your items up the stairs to your learning-space, you finally sit down. This is your weekly (sometimes tri-weekly) ritual. Thankfully, you only need to do this for the rest of this school year and next. You were told to ”make do” because this is a temporary situation until a permanent solution can be found.

This temporary solution has lasted for 10 years.

The Jerusalem Expansion Plan includes adding two new classrooms and replacing two existing classrooms - currently Mrs. Ernest’s Preschool room and the old PreK 3 room that is no longer being used as a classroom. Those two existing classrooms will be replaced by a much more appropriate and learning conducive environment. They will be bigger to accommodate more students in order to allow Jerusalem to go beyond the currently capped preschool enrollment of 33 students. An additional preschool classroom will enable Jerusalem to enroll up to 20 more preschool students. Besides replacing the existing preschool classroom with room for another, there will also be two new classrooms added.

Adding these two classrooms would solve two problems - one current and one on the horizon. The current problem is using the back of the church for the 7th and 8th grade students. Those students would finally get a dedicated classroom. The back of the church, basement, and balcony would no longer be used as temporary classroom and storage areas. The challenge (and/or blessing) on the horizon involves the 5th and 6th grade classroom. Currently, the 5th and 6th grade students are in a room that was previously used as a dedicated church meeting space. That classroom can hold a maximum of 18 students with very little room to walk between desks. While this space is being utilized currently, it does not allow for anticipated growth in the upcoming classes. The current enrollment in grades 1-2 for this school year is 29 students. As we anticipate those students moving through our school, they will not be able to fit in the current 5

th and 6th grade classroom. Having a new classroom for 5th and 6th grade students will enable

class sizes to continue to grow at current pace. The current room could then have several potential

uses, among them: a resource room where small groups and individual students could get extra

academic support; a dedicated school library; or any number of future options.

If you are still not sure what this would look like, please go to the next page, and check out the new

layout proposed for Jerusalem Expansion.

A look at how the expansion will create two new classrooms.

As you can see, additional classrooms would solve current space problems and give room for the

future. What a blessing and opportunity to fulfill our mission of reaching out to people with the

Gospel! As we provide more space for current applicants, we are also ensuring that more students

and their families would be able to hear about Jesus - a reason to praise the Lord!

Finally, did you know the Expansion Plan not only provides classrooms, but an elevator? How will

that help Jerusalem’s ministry? Check out next week’s article to find out.

The next Building Expansion Committee meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00

pm. Please join us!

Also, Jerusalem Members and School Families will be invited to attend a special meeting on

Sunday, July 13th, after church. This will be an informational meeting where the Jerusalem

Expansion Committee will give a detailed presentation on the Jerusalem Expansion Plan. Mark it on

your calendar and plan to attend. See you there!