Jackson-Reed’s portable trailers are expected to leave next year, three years after their installation in September 2022. The portables were originally introduced to reduce overcrowding, an issue that has been gradually improving following the opening of MacArthur High School.
The six portable classrooms, each built to hold 25 students, have a total capacity of around 150 people. Principal Sah Brown said that throughout the past two years, the portables have “helped open up more classroom space,” keeping severe overcrowding problems at bay.
Brown explained that the portables “were on a three-year time frame” and that “this potentially could be the last year that we have them on site.” This is due to the drop in enrollment over the last two years, from roughly 2,200 students to the current 1,855 students. A population of 1,855 students is still over JR’s capacity of 1,704 students, but it is a significant decrease from previous years. Brown credits this drop in enrollment in part to the opening of MacArthur High School.
Alice Deal Middle School recently constructed a permanent building to replace their portable trailers. Brown affirmed that JR will not need to replace their portables with any other measures for overcrowding because of MacArthur’s success.
Anna Foxen, a French teacher who has all her classes in the portables, said that when the portables were first installed, “it was so crowded in the main building that teachers couldn’t really stand outside their doors during passing time because there was no room.” Foxen also noted that every classroom was occupied: “I even taught one class in the band room.”
While the portables have provided much-needed classroom space, they pose challenges for some faculty. Some teachers are forced to switch classrooms multiple times a day, including to classes in the portables. “I currently move four times for my six classes, so it has been quite difficult,” said social studies teacher Ashley Bryant. “I’m lucky that I am probably the closest classroom in the building to the portables, but even still, it is an inconvenience.”
She noted that there is no ramp on the walk to the portables, so instead of packing up a cart she must “put everything into bags and bring [the bags] to the portables,” just for her to carry it all back to her room in the main building after that class ends.
Some students are negatively affected by the portables as well. Sophomore Hannah Clark, who has two classes in the portables, feels that oftentimes the portables have “numerous distracting qualities that make learning in the portables very enduring. For example, the inconsistent temperature of the classrooms, mixed with the constant reappearance of loud emergency door beeping, makes it impossible to focus.”
Despite their problems, the portables have their own separate community of teachers due to their removed nature. “It’s such a small space, we tend to see each other throughout the day and it’s easy to check in with each other. It’s easy to ask to borrow supplies or even to find someone who can cover your class in an emergency,” said Foxen. During her time in the main building, she experienced difficulties with finding colleagues if they didn’t share a planning period. Foxen said that the portables’ community, and the “relaxed atmosphere” of the separate space will be missed.
