Benilde-St. Margaret’s students and staff welcome the sixth grade to the building this school year. For existing students and staff, the influx of new students brings changes. With the addition of sixth grade, BSM hopes to foster a positive environment for the middle schoolers with new upgrades to the North Building classrooms.
Many of the staff members in the North Building at BSM have been there for many years, including Mary Fran O’Keefe, who has been at BSM for the last 48 years. Her office is tucked away in the upstairs of the North Building, which is not as flooded with high school students stopping in to say hi or to grab a piece of candy before they go to class as it used to be. The high school students aren’t allowed to go into the middle school anymore, so Mary Fran doesn’t get many high school visitors anymore. “I don’t see high school students very often, and I miss them a lot. I miss their stories, energy, and all their activities,” O’Keefe said.
BSM has had to make room for the sixth graders, which included moving all the high school teachers out of the North Building to convert it into sixth-grade classrooms. With this came the move for a few high school teachers, such as history teacher Ken Pauly and health and gym teacher Alisa May. These were big changes for these teachers, because now they do not have a classroom to themselves. Despite this, they have been making the most of their changes and still want to have a positive impact on students, no matter where they are. “I’ve been in the North Building for twenty-three years. [I] had a huge room… very quiet, and now I’m down in the basement, sharing the choir room, and [there are] lessons before school and after school. I really don’t have a place anymore,” May said.
It will take some adjusting for all the teachers and staff of the North Building, as all things after a change take time. The BSM staff seemed very excited about all the new opportunities that the sixth graders will have at their disposal. They hope the sixth graders will make the most out of their time, as they are only in middle school for so long, and then after that, high school for a short time. “Have fun, but take advantage of all the opportunities that being in a school with older students is going to give you, especially in the classrooms,” O’Keefe said.