Hubble Middle School

Hubble Middle School or HMS is a public middle school located in Wheaton, Illinois. It was originally in the building that was the original Wheaton High School, which later became Wheaton Central High School. In 1992, the building was converted into a middle school. It was named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble, a Wheaton native and graduate of Wheaton Central High School. Dr. Beth Sullivan is currently the principal at this school. A new Hubble was built in Warrenville near Galusha Road. It was finished on time to open the 2009-2010 school year.

The New Hubble

The new Hubble is located on Galusha Road, and is now closer to the students it serves. There are 10 classrooms, 6 special education rooms, 2 science labs, team storage, and a team room on each of 3 floors, along with a life skills classroom, an applied technology lab, an art room, and a library learning center. The main building houses faculty offices, 2 gyms, fitness center, health classroom, and separate classrooms for orchestra, band, music, and drama.

Additionally, there is extended classroom space so that teachers can let their students work in the halls. The teachers can supervise the students due to the large glass windows. The cafeteria seats up to 340 students at a time, and the hot lunch lines are carefully organized so that students can easily reach everything. There are regular lunch tables, as well as high tables for two next to the windows. The recycling, composting, and garbage system is efficient and very green.

The new Hubble, designed by Legat Architects, is one of the few schools to meet the LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) qualifications. Some of the sustainable features are: the mechanical system is 20% more efficient than the standard systems; the landscaping is drought-resistant, with permeable asphalt that reduces water runoff and "bioswales" that filter the run-off before it enters the storm water system and a 5-acre (20,000 m²) drainage ditch with wetland plants to clean and soak up the water, a green roof that can be used as a classroom, a white "cool roof" which will reflect sunlight and be more an efficient source for air conditioning utilized,low-flow plumbing fixtures, enhanced lighting controls, which will utilize as much natural light as possible, a daylight harvesting system which uses sunlight instead of artificial light, preferred parking for the teachers with the most fuel-efficient vehicles, building material content is mostly recycled, a nature observatory in the center of the school,and environmental issue displays throughout the school. The gym and other classrooms are equipped with sound-absorbing holes in the wall so that the acoustics have been enhanced. Many classrooms have large windows or skylights, which lighten allow natural light. The orchestra and band rooms are equipped with lockers for all instruments and music. The room is almost double the size of the old Hubble facility.

Academics

One of the new classes offered is A-level Biology for 8th graders in fast paced math. Biology is a freshman course, but middle school students have a shorter class. If these students pass the class, they may move on to either chemistry or physics in ninth grade.

In 8th grade, students choose between French, Spanish, or an introduction to all the languages. If they choose French or Spanish, they will be completing the freshman level course, but in a shorter time period. If they choose to, students can go all the way through to French 5 or Spanish 5 in high school.

Student life

Hubble's colors are purple and silver. Hubble's mascot is a husky.

References

• New Hubble Fact Card Hubble Fact Card PDF
• District 200 District 200 Website
• Various Interviews with students from Hubble Middle School
• Legat Architects: Hubble Middle School Legat Architects Website

41.860039°N 88.103728°W / 41.860039; -88.103728