Centennial High School almost ready to open doors

As students across the borderland get ready to head back to school, one high school in Las Cruces, N.M., is opening its doors to students for the first time.

The smell of fresh paint and new furniture welcome you when you step inside the doors of Centennial High School.

After three years of construction and hard work, the $110 million project is almost complete and ready for classes.

The school has all the usual classes including band, home economics and wood shop, but Centennial High takes it to a whole other level.

It starts with the feel of the campus. Bright, open spaces with a modern architectural style prepare students for a college experience.

“We want those kids, not just the kids, but our community, theteachers, the students to want to be at Centennial,” Principal Mike Montoya told ABC-7.

The school also has independent study areas where students can bring their own laptops or iPads, socialized and even grab a bite to eat, just as they would on many university campuses.

“There was a rumor going around that Centennial High had a Starbucks. This is our Starbucks,” Montoya joked, gesturing to a small cafe area on campus.

The school’s two-story gym shines with a full-sized basketball court downstairs and indoor running track upstairs.

The school has nine buildings, each considered its own academy.

All ninth graders will be isolated from upperclassmen, attending all of their core classes inside the Ninth Grade Academy. Inside the building, freshman have their own cafeteria exclusively for them.

Upperclassmen take core classes in one of the three Learning Clusters. Each academic building has its own cafeteria and its own administrator housed inside.

Students attend elective courses in buildings grouped into specialties including performing arts, music and arts.

“It was built around that design to make students want to learn. It’sjust an open design, as much natural lighting as is available in theclassrooms,” Montoya said.

Inside the classrooms, students and teachers have the best of the best in technology, including surround sound systems so students can hear from any seat in the room.

The school is also equipped with 105 touch screen whiteboards that allow teachers to create interactive lesson plans. Teachers will also use clickers to have students answer questions and assess their understanding immediately.

“Technology, it’s available, it’s abundant at Centennial. Our library,for example, we have 24,000 volumes. Of those 24,000 volumes, 6,000 areavailable online,” Montoya said.

Both students and members of the community will be able to go to the school’s library and check out books.

Montoya said he hopes when students go to class on Monday, they find it’s a place that makes them proud to be Centennial High Hawks.

“We have that open feeling and we believe that building something thatis good for kids. They want to be here. They’re going to want tolearn,” Montoya said.

Montoya said staff is still working to finish all the final touches such as touching up paint and setting up equipment, but he said the school will be ready.

As for the access road to Sonoma Ranch Boulevard, Montoya said it could be completed as early as the end of this week, but it will definitely be done by Monday.