Welcome to Underwood Middle School
by Lewie Curtis
December 16, 2004
Underwood Middle School, which was constructed in 1926 with an addition built in 1955, houses Underwood's 6th through 8th graders. Today, approximately 185 students and nearly 30 employees occupy the building 180 days out of the year. The school was once the home of Underwood High School, and even housed a kindergarten class for a while! In 1988, the school district moved its 6th grade students to this building to join the 7th and 8th graders, and that population remains in tact today. When the move occurred, the third floor of the building received much attention with regard to painting, carpeting, and maintenance to make it available to students. For many years the third floor was unoccupied. Today, nearly every classroom is being used. Choir and band classes take place on a daily basis, along with computers, library skills, and consumer science. Of course, the traditional core subject still revolve around Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. Physical Education and Health classes also meet for all students. While the building is old, she has been maintained very nicely by the custodial staff. Much of its electrical and plumbing systems are beginning to show their age, but the neatness of the building is apparent at every turn. One day this building will no longer be standing, but the memories that she has provided for the patrons and students of Underwood Schools will last for a long time to come!
The Middle School is also a site for many community based groups' activities. The UMS gymnasium is a fixed bleacher structure that gives its visitors the feeling of gyms that were popular in the 1950's. Seating is very close to the court and an occasional pole used for support may block your view, but it's a great place to take in a kids' basketball game. The gym is usually busy during the fall and winter until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening with local youth teams practicing for their upcoming games. The floor surface is a new hardwood floor that provides the old gym with a very new look. The floor was installed in the summer of 2001.
While the building has aged, the need for modern technology has increased. That combination is not always conducive to a successful implementation of said technology. However the computer age is alive and kicking at UMS. The computer lab houses 25 computers with a bank of 5 more in the library. Every classroom is also equipped with a computer, primarily for teacher use. Students, of course, expect the technology to be nothing but state of the art, which is not always going to be the case, but UMS is well equipped to serve the needs of its students as far as technology is concerned.
Underwood Middle School has a proud past and a strong future of which to look forward. Its real strength, however, has always been and certainly will continue to be, the people who occupy the building. The students and staff are what make UMS the quality educational setting that it is today.
