Those who are interested in touring the renovated White Bear Lake Area High School are invited to join us for a Community Open House event from 3-6 p.m. on Aug. 29. Stick around for our season opener football game, which will kick off at 7 p.m. It’s the perfect opportunity to see the facilities and cheer on our Bears!
Open House for Families
Aug. 28: 5 - 7 p.m.
Meet teachers. Main Office: schedules, lockers, parking pass, etc. Stop by Tech Depot. Find your Student Support Office and say hi. Check out College and Career Center. Visit School Store.
Opening Events
Community Open House
Aug. 29: 3 - 6 p.m. Self-guided tour. Visit School Store. First Home Football game
Aug. 29: 7 p.m. Varsity Football game at WBLAHS Stadium.
First Day of School
Sept. 3: First Day of School for Seniors.
Sept. 4: First Day of School for Freshmen
Sept. 5: First Day of School for Sophomores and Juniors
bond request approved by voters to address district-wide building needs of voters in the district voted yes the grades the new unified high school will serve square-foot addition and renovations to create a comprehensive high school acres of site development
square-foot classroom addition
square-foot athletics addition
square-foot auditorium addition
million
square-feet of existing building renovations basketballs can fit into the new Galvin Court in energy cost savings over the next 40 years from the solar-paneled roof
Homecoming 2024
Oct. 6-12: Homecoming Week
Oct. 6: Bounce House Carnival, 4 - 7 p.m. at WBLAHS Main Entrance Oct. 11: Parade, 4:30 p.m. in Downtown WBL, and Football Game, 7 p.m. Oct. 12: Homecoming Dance, 7 p.m. at WBLAHS Field House
“The pride and support our community shows for White Bear Lake Area Schools is truly remarkable. Residents, both current and former, share a deeprooted connection to our district. Throughout our district’s long history, countless stories have surfaced, each highlighting the profound difference we’ve made in our students’ lives.”
Dr. Wayne Kazmierczak
White Bear Lake Area Schools Superintendent
The school district decides to add a second school.
Land is purchased to become a new high school. The site was where Central Middle School now stands. The construction plan is five years.
Mariner High School opens, their team is the Mariner Dolphins. Only sophomores and juniors attend for the first year.
April:
White Bear Junior-Senior High School graduates its first class—a class of 10.
White Bear High School and Mariner High School merge to become North and South Campus, respectively, of White Bear Lake Area High School.
School district begins a strategic planning process that leads to the development of a comprehensive facilities plan. Kraus-Anderson Construction Company begins a construction timeline while Wold Architects and Engineers is selected for the design. 1896 1919 1983 2019 1913 1970 1972 2018
20192020
December - May: The construction team hosts userinvolvement meetings, receiving input from highschoolers, building staff and community residents.
The Facilities Planning Committee presents its suggestions to the board with intention to unify the high school.
November: ISD 624 residents pass a bond referendum to improve facilities in the school district. The White Bear Lake Area High School project is funded.
COVID does little to deter the facilities planning and design. The construction team presents the new high school floor plan inspired by sailing, islands, coves and tree canopies.
April: The construction team presents detailed interior for the new high school.
June 15: Construction begins The stadium is completed.
January: Community gathers for “Circle Back to North Campus” event. At the start of second semester, 9th and 10th graders move into the new building addition and the original building portions are closed for renovation.
October: The construction team announces that the high school is 85% complete, and that nearly all of the 62 trade partners are on-site.
October: The WBLAHS Performing Arts Center, capable of seating 850, will be ready to use.
December:
The first home basketball game will have a formal ceremony to name the main gym “Galvin Court” after Jim Galvin, a long-time coach, teacher and community member.
April:
The construction team announces that the main gymnasium has been finished. Flex furniture is also being installed.
June: 9th and 10th graders move out of temporary space in preparation for grand opening.
August:
The construction team announces that, despite six inches of rain above average for the season, all targets have been met, and the school will be ready for its grand opening.
White Bear constructs new habitat for students
BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“School is different these days,” states Partner at Wold Architects and Engineers Sal Bagley. When she and her project partner Paul
Aplikowski began the design phase of the “Building our Future” Facilities Planning Process, a group of staff and students asked for designs that centered around one concept: flexibility. “We were very conscious of student agency,” Bagley states of the school’s design, “It was function first… It’s had a huge impact on how users feel.”
At the same time, Bagley and Aplikowski wanted “a way for the building to be one-of-a-kind. We went with imagery unique to the community.” The concept, then, revolves around islands and coves that students sail to through pathways, charting their own course. Bagley emphasizes, “It’s open, welcome, and invigorating—not white-painted, concrete-block walls. When someone goes inside, it’s a space they want to spend time in.”
The following are just a few facility features students will be able to use come the first day of school:
The Union (and School Grounds)
To call the Union a cafeteria is to limit it. White Bear’s central social gathering space serves lunch, yes, but with vast ceilings and stairs that can double as stadium seating, the Union is where every student will want to gather. It helps that the space is gorgeous to look at. Assistant
Superintendent for Finance and Operations Tim Wald praises the “gigantic sails that double as acoustic control, steel beams that replicate sailboat rigging, and terrazzo floor that replicates water lapping up on the shore.”
Wald also highlights the studentrun coffee shop School Grounds.
“Students came up with the idea, were challenged to design it,” he says. “Ms. Lamwers was their advisor… They sought out donations for equipment and they were going to open it in March of 2020…and then it was delayed. So the younger students were around to see it through, and that student idea is what brings that to our high school today.”
Learning Studios
Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Dr. Alison Gillespie states, “A guiding principle through the facilities work has been making the big spaces feel smaller.
One example of how we’ve done this has been through the use of Learning Studios in the new addition. When students enter a studio, that space becomes their ‘home’ with multiple adults supporting them.”
“Think of each one like a house or pod. Instead of 50 or 60 of the exact same room, there’s a parade of different activities. It’s more physically open, helps break down size of the school,” explains Bagley.
Principal Russ Reetz elaborates, “What does the studio experience look like and feel like? Teachers will not be assigned to a classroom. They’ll meet in the morning and decide within the studio, who’s using what space… ”
Wald notes, “We have several breakout spaces that are enclosed. So you have the conference rooms look like a conference room. It's really a breakout space that's enclosed with glass doors so you can be supervised.”
Within each learning studio is “Flex Furniture,” movable seating, desks, and equipment to suit each student’s needs for the day. “We were charged with enhancing the flexibility of all environments. Furniture has the highest impact. It touches the most students in all the classrooms,” comments Bagley, "Talking about student agency, it provides a variety of options. “What best meets my needs for the day? A soft seating piece? Some still want traditional. Some want to stand and work. It provides a landscape of options.”
On a more visceral level, Bagley
reports, “It incorporates movement into one’s day as opposed to leaning back in a chair that wasn’t meant for that and tipping over.”
If this environment sounds noisy to some, Bagley states, “Learning doesn’t have to be shush-quiet. Other students can see learning on display. Sometimes, a quiet environment is the right thing. Again, it’s all about providing options.” Wald adds, “I mean, the flexibility is the key. There are times when, you know, teacher directed activity that looks old school is appropriate. And then there are times where the teacher is a facilitator of activity in the classroom. The goal was to create spaces that would allow that kind of facilitation and to flow outside of the four walls, but also allow for all types of instruction. So those learning studios really provide
that. You have some very traditional spaces and some very open spaces…
Each learning studio has one room dedicated to student support. If a kid needs to make up a test or needs a quieter area.”
Career Pathways
“White Bear already had robust programming,” says Bagley. “Now they can do it in a space with purposeful design.” Each handson area—whether cooking, art, science, or mechanics—is an island that passersby can walk all the way around.
Career Pathways Coordinator Katy Olsen says, “The students are really in a special place to have such innovation at their fingertips, taking many forms throughout our Career Pathways
program and career and technical education course offerings. WBLAS has always placed a strong emphasis on hands-on career immersion, and now students have state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and technology to give them the most real-world experience possible without ever leaving the building. It’s also been exciting to have our Career Pathways industry partners support and provide input on these new spaces. Our industry partners are equally excited about these new facilities and the opportunities it’ll provide for collaboration and involvement with students!”
The Union not only serves as the school’s cafeteria, but it also contains a student-run coffee shop titled “School
White Bear’s grades 9-12 high school roars to life
Meet the Principal Player: Russ Reetz
BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Incoming students and their families will have their first encounter with Principal Russ Reetz during the backto-school events, his face as fresh to them as the new building, but White Bear Lake Area High School’s new principal has already been working with staff and administration for a year!
“We understood how complex it would be to combine those two schools…” said Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Tim Wald states, “The buildings had completely different DNA… and now we're bringing all that together. The complexity
of finishing the building required us to have that principal on site who could help us help direct the finishing touches.”
Reetz heard about the position when he was an associate principal at Eden Prairie. “As I started to do more and more research, the district's mission and core values aligned with [mine], so I decided to apply for the position,” he said. Wald feels that Reetz has “got a terrific amount of energy. He's inspiring in how he presents his vision for the school.”
That vision, however, was initially met with an unforeseen frame of mind.
“I wanted to harness the excitement of opening a new building. But much of the staff was also feeling a large sense of loss…” Reetz shared, “I had to learn pretty early on to honor that sense of loss…
All of the good things that existed from two separate
sites, we're trying to bring over, but at the same time, we are creating our new culture. We're not really adopting [North] or [South].”
For this reason, Reetz refers to this past year on special assignment as “a blessing.” Referencing past experience with principal transitions, Reetz has seen the challenges of meeting an entire new staff, implementing new systems, and making changes… So when I walk the building on the first day of school, I have an opportunity to continue to get to know students… I can dig into the
actual work.”
Reetz believes the work for this upcoming year is getting each student to say “yes” to the following three questions:
Q. Do I belong here?
A. “The first 60 days of school will be a large focus on… how we're going to operate as a 9-12 high school—how we treat each other, how we greet one another, the connections and the relationships created in different areas of the building,” Reetz reveals, “I felt like I was at my best when I felt a strong sense of belonging, when I felt a deeper connection to what I
was doing or learning. We provide the viable curriculum… but I also want [students] to lean into relationships and find what they’re passionate about... ‘charting their own course.’”
Q. Is this meaningful?
A. “The second 60-day segment of the school year, we’re really going to focus on the purpose, connecting learning targets to students…” Reetz elaborates, “It speaks to those projects that stoke curiosity. That provide a meaningful experience.”
Q. Can I do this?
A. Reetz concludes, “And then the last 60 days is our ‘land the plane…’ We want to ensure that students understand that they can do high school, and they can do it well. They can figure out who they are and what's possible.”
Russ Reetz
PHOTOS BY KRAUS-ANDERSON AND WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA SCHOOLS | CONTRIBUTED
This is a historic moment for the school district and the greater White Bear Lake Area community. For the first time in more than four decades, all ninth through 12th-grade students will attend classes at a single high school building this fall. This significant change was made possible by the community’s support for a $326 million bond referendum, a milestone in state history when it was approved in 2019.
