The container filled with school furniture is already coming, the moving boxes are packed, but there are still a few bikes on the schoolyard. The second -year students of the Hooghuis in Heesch are the only ones who are still taught in the building on Schoonstraat.
At the height there were more than 500 students at the VMBO school. But due to falling registrations, it was decided two years ago to close the location after this school year.
Now that the exams are over and the third -year -olds are already at other locations of the Hooghuis school community, there is peace in the building only Joep van Boxtel, Mijke Smeets and their classmates are still walking around at the school. “It’s pretty funny. You can do everything you would not normally do. Running the auditorium and a bit of balls,” says Joep (14) DTV News.
Mijke (14) also notices the difference. “It is really quiet. You can do everything you want and everywhere in the school. There are no longer the fourth -year students, so it is even quieter. That is strange, but also nice.”
The building is not yet empty. Four classrooms are still used for education. For example, one of the students will give a talk about the Ford Mustang on Wednesday. After the test week and the graduation ceremony, the building will be completely emptied at the beginning of July.
A logistics operation that the caretakers have been prepared for for a long time. A large part of the school furniture moves to other locations of the Hooghuis.
New workplaces
The same applies to the students and teachers. “At the beginning we clearly say that there is a place for everyone within the Hooghuis. I know all locations with colleagues who are currently working in Heesch,” says director Ester van Eggelen.
Pascale van der Burg, Lecturer English in Heesch for eleven years and once a student at the school, moves to Hooghuis Zuidwest in Oss after the summer: “It is very double. On the one hand we have been prepared for the closure for two years. So we know what the future looks like. But at the same time it is a shame and I hoped to work much longer here.”
“It’s annoying, because it’s a small school where you can easily walk around and everyone knows you,” says student Joep. “But on the other hand it is also nice, because you can go to a new school and get to know new people,” says Mijke.
The students have also all found a different school. Both Joep and Mijke go to a school in Oss.