A peek inside the newly renovated Staunton High School

STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) — On Friday, city officials, Staunton School Board members and other school leaders took a tour of the newly renovated Staunton High School.

The building is going from 160,000 to 190,000 square feet. The entire project cost about $43 million to complete.

Joshua Bower is the project manager for the renovation, and said one of the main focuses of the project was to enhance technology.

“That’s both in the classroom in the corridors. We have smartboards, Wi-Fi throughout the entire building. Really, to make this more of a technology campus all throughout," Bower said.

If you are looking for lockers, you won’t find them. You will find 64 classrooms, four floors and interactive learning spaces in the hallway.

There are various additions to the space, including a brand new black box theater.

Superintendent Garett Smith said the old building was not acceptable for students or teachers.

“We really wanted to upgrade to more of a 21st-century school and we think we’ve done that. We really upgraded the athletics, the arts, our academics to the new classroom wing. And we just feel like our comprehensive program is much stronger than it was before,” Dr. Smith explained.

Project leaders said it was difficult to renovate during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that having a longer summer did allow them to accelerate construction.

Dr. Smith said he hopes the community will take a lot of pride in the new space.

“We already have lots of community members using the track. The community gets a lot of use out of the auditorium. Obviously the gym and the auxiliary gym, so we have lots to offer and think the community will be very proud of the work that we’ve done,” Dr. Smith explained.

The renovations are expected to be done by the end of November.

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