Monroe officials said when the renovation wraps up during the second half of the 2025–2026 school year, it will have converted a 4,000-square-foot junior high axillary gymnasium into two floors with 8,000-square feet of new space. That includes eight new classrooms (two of which can be combined via foldable partition), two new meeting/small group rooms and a new staff office.
“This expansion will help us meet our immediate needs for additional space until the new high school is completed, and it positions us for future growth without sacrificing the quality of educational opportunities we provide our students,” said Monroe Schools Superintendent Robert Buskirk.
In recent years, school officials here have scrambled to accommodate classroom overcrowding through converting previously non-instructional spaces into learning areas as Monroe’s enrollment increased.
The district has seen its student population nearly double since 2004 while population growth in the city of Monroe has risen steadily.
For decades, most schools in the region do such building renovations and expansions on a smaller scale than Monroe has undertaken, converting media centers, non-instructional spaces or adding portable modular classrooms separate from buildings to handle enrollment jumps.
The school system is also moving ahead on plans to build a new high school at the 2-12 school’s Yankee Road campus after voters approved a construction bond tax issue in the fall.
In a recent public message to school parents, Monroe officials said: “While Monroe is in the early design and planning stages for a new high school with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, the current junior high gym renovation is separate from that project.”
“This renovation is not connected to the high school construction plans and does not use any funds from the high school bond levy.”
“The estimated $2.5 million project, funded by the district’s existing general fund reserves, will provide much-needed classroom space for our students and staff, allow some common and repurposed spaces in the building to return to their original intended use, and alleviate various scheduling and logistics challenges that have resulted from a lack of available learning spaces.”
Logan Stanger, Monroe Junior High School principal, said “this construction project represents an incredible investment in the future of our students and staff.”
“Once completed, it will enhance the learning environment for both our junior high and high school communities. The completed project will provide updated, functional spaces that support collaboration, innovation, and student growth. It will also open the door to new academic opportunities that were previously out of reach,” said Stanger.
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