New school's doors are itching to open

Matthews Middle School sleeps.

But a clock ticks on its bedside, the alarm set for Tuesday morning, when 600 kids will stream in through the front doors to awaken it for the first time.

"I'm very excited," said Sarah Egler, a choir, music and eighth-grade careers class teacher. "It's been a long summer waiting for this to happen."

When the first day of school does arrive, teachers and their pupils will be in a similar situation in the new building.

"It's kind of neat because we have the opportunity to develop a real learning culture here," Matthews Middle School Principal David Wilm said.

The school sits on 39 acres of farmland in Island Lake once owned by the Matthews family, for whom the school was named.

Inside, teachers and school officials already are working and preparing in the $16.9 million school, which includes a state-of-the-art exercise facility, spacious gym and high-tech music room.

Choir director Brad Rychecky said he looks forward to hearing how the acoustic panels in the walls and ceiling of the music room affect sound.

"I can't wait to hear it in here," Rychecky said Friday as teachers met to organize curriculum, get trained on phone equipment and put the finishing touches on their classrooms.

Another key feature is the school's fitness room, which holds weight-training equipment specifically made for middle school students and cardiovascular machines.

"There's not a middle school with a fitness center like that," Wilm said.

Except, perhaps, for Wauconda Middle School, which district and school officials are quick to point out got many similar upgrades -- including the fitness equipment -- as part of the district's $62.5 million facilities plan.

"We have the exact same number of rooms," Wilm said, noting the district intentionally kept the two middle schools similar. "You want to have that level of continuity … so it's not the 'haves and the have-nots.' "

But even though the curriculum and features at the twin schools are the same, teachers say there's one key ingredient missing from Matthews Middle School right now, an ingredient that will soon be added.

"It's not really a school until there are students in it," Egler said.