WHEN Bellarmine’s 2020-21 academic year ended and the student body was released from the iron grip of Microsoft Teams to hopefully go touch grass, the campus still buzzed with activity over the summer, as the Carney Science building was being worked on from top to bottom.
Built in the late 1980s, the Carney building has functioned as the hub for Bellarmine’s science classrooms. From Physics 9 all the way to AP Physics, nearly all science classrooms are located here. Although the changes are not visible on the exterior, the interior of the Carney building was renovated over the summer. If you were not aware of these changes, do not worry, for the Bell Online has you covered. We spoke to Mr. Cheng and Principal Luscher to bring you into the know.
Mr. Cheng, a chemistry teacher on the second floor of the building, describes his old classroom as having “tiered seating” on one half of the room with “a giant wall” separating the classroom from the lab area. His and another classroom shared the same science lab space. The wall has been removed, and one side of his classroom has been turned into a consolidated lab, with each of the two classrooms having its own now.
Above: Mr. Cheng’s renovated classroom.
Mr. Cheng says he is satisfied with the changes and says the new layout allows the class to flow better and makes his job easier.
Above: Mr. Cheng at his desk.
Mrs. Luscher says that after the Physics 9 classrooms were remodeled two years ago, she took time to “understand the additional needs of the building” and “moved forward with the chemistry lab.” She says the chemistry labs were a major “driving force” of the project. The basement and the Maker Labs were also updated to better reflect the needs of the students and new equipment.
She believes that the teachers have been satisfied with the changes, but the administration is still working on sporadic tech issues. The projectors have been specifically the main problem area due to the tight timeline of the renovation leaving some technical gaps that still need to be filled.
Above: Mrs. Luscher in the Sobrato theater.
When asked about future projects, Mrs. Luscher revealed to the Bell Online that additional plans for the O’Donnell building were in the pipeline, but such changes would be potentially several years away.
Let’s hope they fix the O’Donnell bathrooms!