How did I make it without a black box theatre?

(I guess this is my introduction to middle age — this is a ‘back in my day’ post)

Now, I take a back seat to very few people in the privileged upbringing department — leafy green suburbs, high quality schools — but the new Newton North high school does give one pause.

I respect the desire to have the best for your kids (although I’m not happy with the negative incentives that ‘free’ state money provided), but this school is a bit much.

Look at all the stuff: A regular theatre and a ‘black-box theatre’ (whatever that might be)? The large flat screen TVs at various stations? Two gyms? Elliptical machines? and on and on.

I hope the edifice complex on display here does not obscure the one thing I hope they got right (and curiously absent from any public officials comments) — getting really good teachers.

And another observation — having seen a fair number of public and private institutional buildings at various stages, the finish of the exterior of this building, with its multiple materials and textures, and numerous decorative bends and turns, strikes me as a maintenance headache in the future.