Due to a 22% increase in student enrollment, Hillsdale Academy’s fifth and sixth graders are learning in a temporary portable classroom. 

The academy currently has 50 more students than it did last year, so the administration decided to house the fifth and sixth grade classes in a modular building that could be quickly installed.

“Downstairs is kindergarten to fourth, and upstairs is primarily seventh to 12th grade, just a few steps away from the fifth and sixth graders in the modular,” said Hillsdale Academy Headmaster Michael Roberts.

The modular looks smaller on the outside than on the inside, fifth-grade teacher Lori Andaloro said.

“I was surprised how spacious the modular was,” she said. “I thought it might have been a little cramped, but we have plenty of room for myself and all the kids.

The fifth and sixth grade students have learned to adapt to the space, Andaloro said. 

“The kids have been great,” Andaloro said. “They even look at it as an adventure, we’re on an adventure and they’ve done great.” 

Sixth-grade student Elizabeth Gray said she doesn’t mind the modular building.

“Basically, it just feels like a classroom that has less windows,” Gray said. “It’s different not seeing classes in the hallways that much, so it makes more of a class culture.”

Alyssa Mekelburg, another sixth-grader at the academy, said the teachers in the modular help make class more entertaining. 

“We have the stairway going back, and Mr. Nolan said we could build igloos from it,” Mekelburg said. “He makes a lot of things more fun.” 

The downside of the modular is its location because it blocks the academy’s view from the road, Roberts said.

 “As you drive down Academy Lane, we have a beautiful setting, then boom,” Roberts said. 

The modular will allow the academy to continue to teach while beginning construction on an addition in the back, Roberts said. Once the addition is completed, the academy can remove the modular and move students back to regular classrooms. 

“The modular use is a short term plan,” Roberts said. “We will be in them for at least two years. In the meantime, we are currently looking at plans and strategy for a new addition.”

Sixth-grade teacher Matthew Nolan said he looks forward to the expansion.

“As fun as this modular adventure will be, I think it’s going to be good to be united back in one building again,” sixth-grade teacher Matthew Nolan said. “I’m sure the new construction is going to be beautiful. It’ll add a lot to the grandeur of the school.”