Dear Families,

We hope you are doing well. We wanted to share the following information with our Lingle Middle School families. Please take a moment to review, and contact us if you have any questions.

First, thanks for your understanding, patience, and support throughout this school year. We fully understand that having class in mobile units is not always the most conducive learning environment. That said, we are so proud of how our students and staff rose to the challenge. Despite the disruption, our teachers found creative ways to keep learning engaging and meaningful, and our students continued to show resilience and a strong sense of school community. Your support made all the difference.

Second, we are moving the mobile units within the next few days, and they are on their way back to Texas. It is our full intent to transition back into Lingle Middle School in the fall. We have no other options because the mobile units will be gone.

Third, we will have Lingle Middle School open by this August. We understand there are considerable rumors and questions about when Lingle will be ready, but we are confident. Without question, we will still be working on some minor projects next fall, but the vast majority of the work will be done. The students and staff will return to Lingle in August!

Fourth, we will include a safe room at Lingle, which is a room specifically designed to withstand the severity of a tornado. While the rest of the school will be substantially finished, this safe room will not be fully completed until late fall, in November. The safe room will also serve as our band, choir, and orchestra rooms, and it will be large enough to accommodate all our students in the event of a storm. We will have a transitional plan for performing arts classes until we are able to move into the new addition in November.

Fifth, many parents have asked what will be included in the renovation project. Virtually everything in Lingle will be new. This is a complete renovation. There will be new classrooms, flooring, ceiling tiles, paint, furniture, carpet, gym floor, student desks, cabinetry, new windows, etc. Some of the school was not damaged, but we have replaced the vast majority of things. We are confident that staff, students, and parents will be highly appreciative of the changes.

Sixth, we know many parents are eager to visit and see the restored school. We’re excited to showcase Lingle and will be hosting a series of open houses. To give teachers time to set up their classrooms and organize the building, these events will take place in August. We’ll share the exact dates with you soon.

Finally, thank you again for your partnership and encouragement during a challenging year. Your flexibility, positivity, and trust helped us get through it together. While this year came with unexpected obstacles, it also brought out the very best in our Lingle community. We are so grateful for each of you and excited to welcome everyone back to a beautiful, revitalized campus this August!

Dear Lingle Middle School Parents,

We wanted to provide a quick update on the progress at Lingle Middle School. Several parents and staff members have expressed a concern that there is extremely little visible work being done on LMS at this point. They have also expressed a concern that LMS will not be ready for students to return in August 2025. In any project, and especially in renovation projects, the planning, design, and permitting work takes a long time. We have been working with all the relevant entities to complete all the necessary preconstruction programming. Demolition officially began last week, so starting this week, staff and parents will notice more visible signs of construction activity.

We spoke with our contractors earlier this week, and they see no problem with having LMS opened for school in August. The fine arts addition will not be finished by August because we are converting that area into a storm shelter, and it will take additional time. We should be finished with the fine arts room by the end of September. We have every plan and intention of moving staff and students back into LMS in August. In fact, the companies are picking up the mobile units in June, so we must have LMS ready by August. The school will not be entirely finished, but it will be substantially completed by the start of school next year.

It is important to note that this will be a total renovation. LMS will get all new HVAC systems, a new roof, new floors, new lights, new ceiling tiles, new fire suppression systems, new digital/electrical upgrades, a new storm shelter, etc. There will be about 5,000 additional square feet added to the building for the shelter and fine arts, but the rest of the building will remain the same. Although there will be little additional square footage added, virtually everything will be new within LMS.

We would normally reconfigure the office area to force visitors into the office before gaining access to the rest of the school. We considered doing this, but the new configuration would add months to the planning and construction phase. We still have plans to improve this aspect of LMS, but our primary focus is to ensure staff and students return in the fall.

Bottom line – we are within budget and on schedule to reopen the brand-new LMS in August 2025. Hang on LMS Staff - we will have you back home in 10 months! 

Jeff Perry, Superintendent