When you enter the Camden-Rockport Middle School, at first glance you may see a school that looks in reasonable shape. Due to great work on the behalf of our maintenance and custodial staff, the school does indeed look like it is in good shape. The school has been maintained as well as it possibly could have been; a local Rockport resident even donated an entryway facelift a few years ago.

Unfortunately, this first impression is deceiving. There are problems with our aging middle school facility, which have a significant impact on the teaching, and learning that happens in the building. I felt it was important for you to know more of the realities of working in this building every day so, to prepare this article, I gathered feedback from various members of the CRMS staff. The following descriptions, some of which are quoted directly, illustrate their challenges with the building:

Kristen Andersen, our art teacher says: "I have taught at the middle school for 16 years. In that time, I have had six floods in the art supply closet, I have had the ceiling tiles fall on me while teaching in the mini theatre and student artwork ruined while hanging in the hallways because of pipes bursting."

In our Upper Knowlton wing, Katie Bauer, who has taught numerous subjects at CRMS, currently teaches seventh grade science. Her room is literally sinking: the threshold into her room is a tripping hazard.

She also deals with leaks in her supply room and terribly inefficient windows. Though they let in great light, they also let in plenty of cold air. On some days her room is sweltering and on others it is freezing.

Katie's colleague in seventh grade, social studies teacher Christina Young, said: "My room is an oven in the spring and an ice box in the winter. Mildewy ceiling tiles, zappy electrical outlets, and its own weather pattern: my room has it all!"

Down in the Mary E. Taylor building, Jaclyn Barstow is in her third year as a fifth grade teacher at CRMS.

She echoed the concern about heat in our building: "My students and I often spend entire days wearing our winter coats in our classroom. We have many days where our radiators produce no heat. None. We joke and try to make the best of it, but as anyone can imagine, the uncomfortable temperature in our room impacts the teaching and learning that can (and should!) happen."

Ellen Curtis, an ed. tech in our sixth grade, loves the character of the MET building, but doesn't enjoy the rain that drops in through the 7-foot original window.

She said, "the last big rain storm we had I needed to duct tape a trash can to the window to catch the water."

She, too, notices that students are cold in class and relies on heat coming in from the hallway.

Allysa Anderson teaches general music and chorus. If you've been to one of our concerts before, you'll know that Allysa has built a large, successful chorus program. Have you seen one of our wonderful high school musicals? Many of those talented performers got their first start under Allysa's direction.

She teaches in a room with little to no ventilation that cannot host the number of students it demands. On rare occasions when she combines two grades for a dress rehearsal, the room becomes so hot that students have been on the verge of fainting.

She also commented: "Whenever there is a combination of wind and rain from the field it comes right in through the wall and drips down. I have had to cover the drums and guitars with plastic on a few occasions to protect them from water damage."

In the family consumer science room, Sue Burwell has dealt with the ceiling falling down twice: "The first time water poured out of ceiling and light fixtures over computers and books (which were damaged). The second time (years later, after it was "fixed" from the first leak) it collapsed over a kitchen counter where students were about to begin cooking."

Kathy Foss, our long serving school librarian, has seen many of the challenges over her time at CRMS. Like much of our building, the library was not purpose built for that use; it was made when four classrooms were converted into the one, single space.

What remains is a room stretched long and narrow, poorly designed for teaching, with no storage space, a leaky roof, limited electrical capacity and a noisy location directly outside the playground. Try teaching a class while 170 middle schoolers play outside your window!

Finally, Maggie Massengale our head custodian, had this to say: "One Saturday I was called in to clean up water because an air handler was frozen on the top floor of MET. Water was pouring all the way down to the basement: now the wood floors are warped. We have had the sprinkler pipes burst twice in the gym equipment room and ruin equipment and artwork on the walls."

When I sat down to begin drafting this article on a snow day last week, Maggie popped her head into my office to let me know she had finished shoveling the snow from inside the hallways. If snow is getting in that easily through locked, exterior doors, it's no wonder the cold air blows in.

Many of us also struggle with the overall layout of our building.

Teaching has changed in the past 20 years: it is no longer a profession where you close your door and work in isolation from other people. Teachers are expected to work with each other and collaborate as they plan their curriculum. Our long, winding building leaves our seventh and eighth grade staff hundreds of yards away from their colleagues in the fifth and sixth grade wing. Teachers can go weeks without seeing each other.

Beyond teachers themselves, the size of the building is inefficient for the principal and I to manage. It is inefficient for students who waste so much time walking between classes. It is far from ideal that our cafeteria serves as the only route from one wing to another, meaning 5th graders who are changing classes have to weave through a line of hungry 8th graders in an already cramped cafeteria. Outside the building, it is unsafe for students and frustrating for parents that the exterior layout offers no space for an off-road pick-up and drop-off loop. The building and its exterior simply weren't designed to function was one school, especially not a school in the 21st Century.

I have shared these stories to paint a realistic picture of life in our building. Yes, like our custodial staff, our teaching staff are doing the best they can to deliver excellent instruction to our students, but they are doing this despite significant challenges presented by the building. Yes, we try to be vigilant about safety on Knowlton Street, but we know there is an accident waiting to happen. Yes, we have had numerous respiratory and allergy concerns among our staff due to air quality. Yes, the staff of CRMS who contributed to this letter do have a vested interest in this project. For good reason. It is not adequate.

As a Camden taxpayer, I am willing to share in the financial responsibility to make this new building a reality, because given the number of problems you've read about here and in other articles, we can't afford not to. I encourage you to learn more and contribute your vote to next week's referendum. I encourage you to vote YES for a new building.

Matt Smith is Assistant Principal at CRMS