School District of Rhinelander voters passed a $26 million capital referendum two years ago.
The district and community members celebrated the completion of the work at the middle school which was a large part of the overall project.
This school year, the James Williams Middle School Band started practicing songs like On Wisconsin in a newly upgraded music room.
It’s one of the recent upgrades to the Rhinelander middle school that also included upgrades to art, family and consumer science, and tech ed classrooms.
Principal Kyle Raleigh says it was the right time to upgrade these spaces.
“Even before this project, we started to see our music numbers going up, our tech ed numbers going up,” he said. “We added a Family and Consumer Ed eighth grade cooking class because the numbers are going up.”
Special education spaces were also upgraded. Safety improvements were made to the front offices and entrance.
Celebrating with the Community
Staff, school boards members, and the community came out Monday as the school district celebrated the completion of the work in the middle school with a ribbon cutting.
“We know that any school anywhere is much more than, let's say, test scores. It's about the whole child as they go through school. These areas definitely hit on all those different areas of a child's life,” Superintendent Eric Burke told the crowd.
Teachers spoke about how excited students are to learn in these upgraded spaces and how excited they are to teach in them with the new equipment.
“What stands out most is how all these improvements work together. They support different learning styles, spark student interest and provide pathways for every learner to succeed. The referendum was an investment, not just in the buildings, but in the students,” said Family and Consumer Science educator Jaime Stepan.
Time for Exploration
People toured the new and upgraded spaces with tech ed space one of the highlights.
“I have said this a couple times. I truly believe this is one of the best, if not the best, middle school tech ed facility in the state,” said Raleigh. “We did some tours of some tech ed, and there was nothing like this with both the fab lab portion and the woods and metal side.”
Eighth grader Jack Congdon, who spoke during the ribbon cutting ceremony, said it was amazing to see the change.
“It makes a huge difference because we actually have the space and equipment to build, create and try new things,” said Congdon. “It makes class feel more real.”
The changes are part of the larger picture to set students up for success after high school.
Trident Maritime Systems plant manager Joe Jaeger says the increasing and ongoing demand within the trades has altered recruitment approaches.
“This places higher importance on employer and education partnerships, classrooms and careers need to be connected. Strong schools build strong communities,” Jaeger said.
The district recognizes that students aren’t picking their careers in middle school.
Raleigh says changes like these are important to get kids excited about exploring the possibilities.
“Our goal is to get them to just try new things. This renovation has updated a lot of the spaces where kids get that opportunity to try new electives and try new things,” he said.
Community support
The work is largely being covered by the $26 million referendum voters passed in 2024. It’s also supported by local businesses and community members.
“We are super grateful that our community supports us, both our operational referendum and our construction referendum,” said Raleigh. “Superintendent Burke and I were talking about it earlier today, two years ago, when we went for the referendum, it passed with like 70% which is astronomical. A lot of communities don't have that support.”
Work is still being done in the high school as part of the $26 million capital improvement project.
That is expected to wrap up this fall.
