Remodeling the Arroyo High School Band Room

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Arroyo High School, located on 15701 Lorenzo Ave in San Lorenzo, California is known for its safe environment and arts courses, according to the Parent Reviews for Arroyo on greatschools.org. There is one room, however, that does not meet up to the expectations of these such reviews. A proposal is being made to rebuild one of the oldest buildings in Arroyo High School, the music room (M-2) That was built in 1954. The Arroyo music room does not have sufficient space and both teachers and students do not feel safe inside this classroom, and the room is in great need of a remodeling.

 

A survey asking 69 students and 4 teachers of their thoughts and concerns on the music room showed that 90% percent of students believed that the music room was too small. When asked how safe students felt on a scale of 1-4, four being very safe and one being not safe at all, a majority of students said two. This shows that most students do not feel safe in the bandroom. Many of the students’ comments expressed their concern for the conditions of the music room.

 

These included the overcrowding of students and instruments, and the size of the room. One student commented, “I’m afraid of tripping over something… if there was an earthquake I feel like someone is going to get really hurt.” Other comments from other students included, “it’s too stuffy, and it gets really hot,” and “it’s too small… there needs to be more space.”

When teachers were asked on their thoughts on the band room, all expressed their concern for the insufficient amount of space, saying that the room “looks way too small… it looks outdated.”

 

Pictures of the “practice rooms” that are now used as storage rooms as a result of the lack of space:

Above: Practice room now used to store some of the thousands of original music scores.


Left: A student puts away his instrument in the now crowded practice room.

Right: Another practice room used as drum and pit storage.



Acknowledging the effects of poor ventilation, the only form of ventilation that the band room has is a back door. Below is a picture that shows sealed windows. This prevents air from ventilating in the room. As a result, the students are constantly inhaling carbon dioxide while they play their instruments. Students also complain that they get too overheated because there is currently no working air conditioning in the room.

 

The California Code of Regulations state in article 4  that one of the general standards for music rooms is that they should provide sufficient, secure storage space should be provided for instruments, equipment, and instructional materials. The effects of overcrowding in classrooms has shown to disturb the learning of the students, and also becomes a safety issue. Arroyo teachers and students feel that this regulation is being violated by this classroom.


This room (M-2) needs to be remodeled in compliance to the California Code of Regulations and the comfort and safety of students and teachers.

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