布兰登金丝(KELO) -布兰登谷高中looks different thanks to construction, and this week’s two school days are different, too; kids learned remotely Monday and Tuesday because the power had to be shut off. That had to happen because a green transformer had to move.

“We really wanted to make sure we kept the integrity of the academic day in place,” principal Mark Schlekeway said. “We didn’t just want them to be lost academic days, and so our staff were well-equipped based off of our experiences with, that we had with COVID.”

The transformer had to move because of renovations at the school.

“Right now our capacity at Brandon Valley High School is at just over 14-hundred students,” district superintendent Jarod Larson said. “We have about 1,350 students on site. So the classroom additions are necessary to accommodate our ongoing growth.”

“We will graduate around 310 students this year, and then we’re going to bring in a new freshman class of 370,” Schlekeway said. “And so when you start to grow like that you obviously need the space.”

Today’s students learned remotely so tomorrow’s students can have enough space to learn.

“This addition, again 35,000 square feet, over 20 classrooms, will take Brandon Valley High School capacity up to over 2,000,” Larson said. “So it gives us room to grow for the next couple of decades into the future.”

Larson says the renovations are set to be complete by the start of the school year next fall.