Special Report
School Climate & Safety

Joplin Interim High School

By Jaclyn Zubrzycki — January 04, 2013 2 min read
Students bustle through the hallways at the 11th and 12th grade campus of Joplin Interim High School last year. The school features glass walls and open spaces to encourage mingling and social interaction.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Sometimes a school building is more than just a place to learn. After a tornado whipped through Joplin, Mo., in May 2011, destroying the town’s high school, the wrecked building was another sign of the devastation that had come to the community. Rebuilding the school became a matter of symbolic importance. Plans were drawn up overnight, and only 55 days after the tornado, the district’s juniors and seniors had a new school building—in a former shopping center.

In a town recovering from trauma, in a school that didn’t look quite like a school, rebuilding school spirit and a sense of community was an important first step. The walls are bedecked with the school’s mascot, an eagle.

“When they walked into a building that was ‘eagled up,’ full of school spirit, looking comfortable and different—I think that made a difference,” says Angela Besendorfer, an assistant superintendent in the 7,400-student district.

Joplin at a Glance

BUILDING COST
$6 Million

YEAR BUILT
2011

SQUARE FOOTAGE
93,949

ENROLLMENT
1,092

“The transition would have been a lot harder if we’d been sitting in a big metal room,” says Hank Millard, 18, a senior who plans to study architecture. “The subtle things about it helped. There’s a lot of trust, and a lot of interaction between students, a lot of collaboration. That probably helped us get a sense of normalcy.”

Creating a temporary school allowed Joplin High to take risks in the design that it might not have in a more permanent building, but Besendorfer says many of the interim building’s features will be replicated in the permanent building, which is being planned.

Students enter their temporary high school, which was constructed inside a shopping mall in Joplin.

The building has small breakout rooms dubbed “think tanks,” and “info-links” where students can see each other’s computer screens projected on a shared screen (the school has also implemented a 1-to-1 laptop program).

Students no longer have lockers. The building that was destroyed had been built in the 1950s, and the hallways were often crowded and chaotic. The interim building has wide hallways—and storm shelters, which the old building lacked. All of those features will carry into the new building, which is slated to open in 2014.

Senior Derek Carter reads Catch-22 on his laptop in a Think Tank room at the 11th and 12th grade campus of Joplin Interim High School last year.

The school’s shopping center roots mean it’s missing some elements that make learning pleasant: daylight, for one, and full-length walls to soundproof classes. Even so, there’s been a change in the atmosphere since students moved into the new building. Discipline problems and vandalism have gone down, says Besendorfer. The new building sent a message to the community, she says.

Students’ voices will also be part of the design process for the new high school building: There is even a Facebook page set up to collect students’ input on the design of the new high school.

In March 2024, Education Week announced the end of the Quality Counts report after 25 years of serving as a comprehensive K-12 education scorecard. In response to new challenges and a shifting landscape, we are refocusing our efforts on research and analysis to better serve the K-12 community. For more information, please go here for the full context or learn more about the EdWeek Research Center.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Opinion What Do Restorative Practices Look Like in Schools?
Such practices teach students how to resolve disputes amicably, own their actions, and be empathetic and forgiving.
9 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety School Dress Codes Often Target Girls. What Happens When Male Teachers Have to Enforce Them?
Male teachers say the task can put them in a risky and uncomfortable position.
11 min read
Image of articles of clothing on a coat hook outside a school entrance.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
School Climate & Safety Are School Buses Safe? An Expert Explains
A perennial concern is getting new attention.
4 min read
Photo of rescue workers and turned over school bus.
Brandy Taylor / iStock / Getty Images Plus
School Climate & Safety A School Removed Bathroom Mirrors to Keep Students From Making TikToks. Will It Work?
The desperate strategy for keeping students in class illuminates the challenge schools face in competing with social media.
5 min read
Empty blue school bathroom showing the bathroom sinks without mirrors.
iStock/Getty