A window of opportunity

Administration installs new window wraps in an effort to increase school spirit and safety

Students+stand+outside+the+entrance+to+the+front+office.+The+window+wraps+on+building+1+were+installed+two+weeks+before+winter+break.

photo by Nadia Knoblauch

Students stand outside the entrance to the front office. The window wraps on building 1 were installed two weeks before winter break.

As students walked out of the front doors at the end of the first semester, workers crowded the exit with lifts and equipment, ready to finish installing the school’s latest project. A sea of blue and white designs were wrapped on all front windows and doors, another new addition to the school’s main entrance.

A year ago, principal Robert Frasca attended a meeting where the Seminole County Public Schools’ printshop presented design ideas and possibilities, which sparked his interest.

“We had a little book of different designs that the company could do and I wanted to get some more of our colors on campus,” Frasca said.

Starting in August, Frasca and administration approved the designs for the front of the school, including the window wrap for the main entrance, new gym and the “husky eyes,” which were installed early that month.

The eyes were step one in Frasca’s plan to instate more spirit into the school’s appearance. At a district event at the beginning of the school year, the eyes were placed onto the front awning over a span of two days, kicking off the new school year and this new phase of Hagerty’s development.

The next step in upgrading school spirit did not arrive until two weeks before winter break. The front office, main entrance and new gym window wraps took three days to install, allowing the school to gain more spirit and safety just in time for the holidays.

“The neat thing about the design is that it’s hard to see in, but you can very clearly see out,” Frasca said. “It really decorated and colored up the school in our school colors out front, and it also helped with a little bit of safety and security.”

Since Frasca’s arrival to Hagerty three years ago, he and Deputy David Attaway have put a strong emphasis on improving campus safety, focusing on implementing new components for in-between classes and in the courtyard. This includes plans for adding more security cameras, requiring people to be buzzed into the front office and eventually adding more wrapping to the media center, building 1 and the bus ramps.

“Deputy Attaway is one of the most proactive deputies I’ve worked with when it comes to school safety,” Frasca said. “He cares about this campus.”

Despite Frasca’s eagerness to make the school as secure as possible, these projects must be done in small steps due to budgeting.  

“It’s not cheap. All those pieces were somewhere around $40,000 worth of design work and installation, so we’re doing it in stages,” Frasca said. “Our School Advisory Council paid for some of it for the safety reasons, so they were able to contribute to some of the funding.”

With plans for future wrapping installations and added security measures, Frasca hopes to continue improving the safety of his students and staff while also adding a little color to their day.

“Of all the issues I deal with when it comes to academics and learning and all that we’re really here for, at the end of the day, if I don’t have a safe environment, none of that matters,” Frasca said. “I want to go home at night and be able to sleep knowing that every one of my students and staff members or anybody that comes on this campus is safe.”

 

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