BY DAVE CHOATE

Susan Cloutier’s new family and consumer science classroom at the Weare Middle School is twice the size of the old one, with brand-new stoves, sinks and cabinets lining the walls.

Now entering her 34th year in teaching, Cloutier can be probably forgiven for getting a little excited about her new digs.

“I’m never leaving. I’m one of the oldest teachers here, and now I’m never retiring. We’ve known we needed a new school, and it’s unbelievable,” she said.

School officials, state education officials and hundreds of residents dedicated the $18.3 million school on Saturday, Aug. 25. Principal David Pabst said the school represents a significant improvement in quality and safety over the old middle school. He said the improvements had long been necessary and thanked the roughly 70 percent of Weare residents for approving the funding and plans nearly three years ago.

“As an example, we’re going from a school with no science labs to a school with three science labs where students can design their own experiments. We’ll have a lot more hands-on opportunities for our students,” Pabst said.

The parents and students who came to get a look at the  new building had a chance to take a self-guided tour. The brand new library and high-tech music room with computer monitors hooked up to keyboards were among the most heavily trafficked rooms.

Even the dedication’s invited speaker said he was impressed with the scale of the new building. Daddy’s Junky Music Store founder Fred Bramante Jr. said the school’s new grade-specific common areas should give students new chances to gather and learn outside of the regular classroom.

“I’m excited about the opportunities for your kids and I’m excited about the possibilities for this district,” Bramante told the assembled crowd in the school’s new gymnasium. “This is an improvement over the old school, isn’t it?”

Also among the school’s newest features are a cafetetorium which combines a theater and a cafeteria, the common rooms for each grade to stage meetings or schedule events, and new athletic fields. The school covers a total area of 134,600 square feet and is built to house a total of 920 students.

Eighth-grader Scott Moran will only have one year at the new school, but as one of the most direct beneficiaries of the redesign he said he was happy with the new building.

“I think it’s cool. It’s way better than the old school, and it’s way bigger,” Moran said.