Ever since the construction of the new Blake Innovation Center, navigating around campus has been much more challenging for Middle Schoolers this year. This past summer, Westminster started a new construction project called the Blake Center in the middle of the school, so students have a harder time getting anywhere on campus.

With the Blake Center construction in the way, Middle Schoolers face more difficulty getting to Pressley Hall for lunch in Malone Dining Hall and the Information Technology Center for Middle Schoolers. Addi Gira from 8th grade says, “It’s long and tiring,” when going to lunch. The Middle School students hate having to walk 100 yards up to almost in front of Barge Commons and back down to Pressley Hall to get their long-awaited lunch. Because Pressley Hall also houses IT, going to IT in the middle of a test if a student’s computer broke down would be a disaster. “It takes like an hour to get there and [get help from IT] and get back, so technically, you’re just skipping class,” Gira says. All the students don’t like the new way, but the administration says it’s the most efficient way to get to Pressley. 

Westminster’s Vice President for Finance and Operations Toni Boyd says her team measured every possible way to get to Pressley. “We went and walked every single pathway and counted the number of steps and calculated how many more steps people would have to take to get to each building,” she says. 

Head of Middle School Leslie Ann Little says alternates were considered and walking by Turner Gym to get to lunch complicates the route and makes it longer than before. “To go down to Turner and up was further,” she says. “It may not seem like it, but [the current route] also gives you more shelter for the tree coverage; if a bad storm blew up, you’re passing by several buildings where you could get up in the doorway, right, and get out of harm’s way.” Little’s team measured only a 50-meter difference between the new and old pathways to Malone Dining Hall.

Because construction blocks Broyles Field due to its role as the building equipment’s drop-off point, the usual pathway to PE class in Turner Gym is blocked. The new path to PE passes an entrance where the construction trucks drive in and out all day. All the students going to PE have to wait at Clarkson Hall for a PE teacher to come up and lead them across the entryway to walk to PE so no one gets in the way of the construction trucks. According to Boyd, the PE teachers enjoy this extra time with their students. “The amount of time that it has always taken middle school students to get to PE has been time that the PE instructors can now actually be with the students and interact with them,” she says. 

However, the students like to go to PE independently and not have to wait for the PE teacher. 8th grader Ella Chidolue thinks students don’t need a teacher acting as a crossing guard. “We don’t really need it because we can all cross the street, and we know that if there are cars coming, we look left to right so we can cross,” she says. Chidolue believes that Middle Schoolers can stay safe and watch for trucks entering and exiting the drop-off point. 

Nonetheless, the PE instructors have no problem walking the students to PE and think it is the safest option. Little also thinks getting to PE is safest this way, so nobody gets hurt by the large trucks. “[The trucks] are not looking at you. They’re thinking of construction, and they’re huge. I mean, we’ve got earth movers, the tires are as tall as you are, and we’re just trying to keep you safe,” she says. 

The faculty is just trying to keep all the students safe with these new protocols. Walking these far distances to Turner Gym and Pressley may not seem fun, but they are the most efficient and safest ways to get around. Even though students don’t appreciate walking long distances around campus, the school says the fenced area will keep getting smaller, and Blake Hall should be done and open by the beginning of 2026.