“There’s a big difference between this year and last year in being in the classrooms,” said Ellis teacher Tom Fritz.

Seventh-graders John Sengsouriya and Merwyn Farnsworth both agree the extra space is very helpful.

“It provides enough space for projects,” Farnsworth said.

The multi-purpose gymnasium was partially occupied Tuesday night by a sixth-grade volleyball game, but that didn’t stop visitors from admiring the space there too, as people wove in and out of the crowd watching the game.

Because of the amount of space inside the new multi-purpose gymnasium, which also serves as the cafeteria, students eat lunch at bigger tables that can seat eight students. Last year’s tables sat four to five or – if students squeezed together — a maximum of six.

The multi-purpose room isn’t being used for gym classes this year, however. School officials decided against scheduling gym classes in the new gymnasium since they didn’t know if the room’s flooring system would be completed on time. Everything was finished on schedule however, and the multi-purpose room will be used for athletics and other activities.

Thanks to the building additions, the computer labs at Ellis were moved into the area where the old cafeteria used to be, freeing up the rooms they previously occupied to be used as classrooms, which helps ease some of the space restriction problems and reduces the middle school’s average class size. Each lab comes with a giant smartboard display, which according to several teachers is incredibly handy.

“It’s a whole new aspect in education for us,” Jennifer Sims, an Ellis teacher said. “It’s really changed how we teach.”