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By LISA BUIE
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 10, 2001
Ken Trufant pointed toward the gymnasium floor.
"See the difference in the grain?" he said noting that it was not the same as the wood inside the parameters of the basketball court. "This wood is half the price of that wood. When the bleachers are pulled out, you don't see the floor anyway so what's the difference?"
Frugality was one of main themes as Trufant, the district's construction director, and other officials toured Centennial Middle School on Monday. The school, on 30 acres off U.S. 301 between Dade City and Zephyrhills, is set to open for students Aug. 13. It cost about $11.2-million, and according to officials, is 109,900 square feet of efficiency.
The school borrows the design being used in elementary schools. It incorporates a "team concept" in which four classrooms share a common space.
Instead of rushing to and from classes, students will spend most of their day in a pod that contains classrooms for science, language arts, social studies and math. Each pod also includes restrooms, so the days of students wandering the halls when they are supposed to be in class are over.
"Students don't have to do a whole lot of movement during the day," said Principal Tom Rulison, who came over from Bayonet Point Middle School to be chief of Centennial Middle. "Parents are very happy with that."
Teachers also share planning space, fostering more teamwork.
The school is being air conditioned with natural gas -- typically used in heating systems -- instead of electricity. The use of gas in the off-peak season means the school will get it a 60-percent discount for whatever gas it uses.
The system was made possible through a donation from Integrated Power Co. of Texas and a grant from People's Gas.
School officials say they think Centennial is the only middle school in the United States with such technology.
They are optimistic it will work, but if it doesn't, "we have the money to buy an electric motor," said Mike Woodall, the district's energy coordinator.
The school also will share expanded wells and wastewater treatment systems with nearby Centennial Elementary.
Despite all the talk of thrift, Centennial is not lacking in equipment and space.
The school boasts rooms for art and chorus and a band room that many high school directors would envy.
A room for home economics boasts six sparkling new white ovens and refrigerators. There's a technology room in which students can learn about such things as robotics and a business room that will be stocked with new computers. Next year, Rulison hopes to have a room devoted to learning about public service careers such as law enforcement.
In addition to the gym, students also have a basketball court with 12 hoops, a volleyball court and a running track, as well as fields for soccer, football and softball.
They also have something else that is of paramount importance to middle schoolers: locker rooms with private showers.
Another thing Rulison is grateful for is a large cafeteria. It will enable the school to offer only two lunch periods compared to six at Bayonet Point that Rulison said started at 10:15 a.m. and "took up half the day."
Centennial Middle is one of three new schools to open this fall. Chasco Middle and Veteran's Elementary round out the district's five-year, $100-million construction spree of 10 schools since 1997.
Centennial Middle is expected to draw students from Pasco and Stewart middle schools. Its capacity is 702, but about a little more than 500 are expected to attend this year.
The public can tour the new school at an open house set for 5:30 p.m. Friday.
WHAT: Open house
WHERE: Centennial Middle School, 38505 Centennial Road, off U.S. 301 between Dade City and Zephyrhills
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday