place in the middle of the school year, at the conclusion of the first semester. 1997 brought the arrival of Principal Robert Chlebicki, who would hold the position until 2003. During his tenure at Blind Brook, Chlebicki helped Blind Brook move into the 21st century in many areas. In 1999, with the construction of Bellefair, a new housing development, and the influx of younger families to the community, the Blind Brook community started to outgrow the footprint of the original high school building. Further, after spending several years at the Ridge Street building, as Blind Brook grew into a 9-12 high school, the seventh and eighth grades were reintroduced back at the Blind Brook campus, adding to the crowded conditions. A parent-school district committee, called "Let's Bond for our Kids", formed a construction plan and encouraged the community to get involved and vote for funding to build a separate middle school wing. The bond passed by a large margin, bringing construction to the BB campus for the first time since 1973. In the summer of 2000, Portables 1 and 2 were installed to create additional classroom space during the construction. These modular buildings are connected to each other, but are not connected to the main high school building. To this day, the modular classrooms, or as they are often called, the portables (though they cannot be moved), are still used for daily classes and are fairly popular among the student body. During this time of physical change in the district, Susan Shirken, the assistant principal for the middle/high school, left to become an administrator in the Edgemont district. This marked the arrival of Michael Mitchell in 2001. With administrative change occurring, the construction project progressed. The project ultimately resulted in a middle school wing, a middle school gymnasium, a renovated Instructional Media Center (library), new middle school and high school main offices, a 450-seat auditorium, a new front walkway and entrance, a renovated commons area, and high school classroom renovation. In addition to expansion of the building, in order to meet state fire codes, the construction also resulted in traditional, four-walled, closed classrooms. By removing wall-less classrooms, the new classroom setup left some interior rooms windowless. In addition, the Commons had its carpet removed and new, artistic walls were installed. These walls were often poked fun at and seemed very silly in the eyes of students, with statements of "This