Students won't be in the new additions at Millburn Middle School and Millburn High School full-time until September, but the work on the projects nears completion.

School officials have a temporary certificate of occupancy for the middle school, and the high school's should be in place this week. Workers are waxing floors and installing furniture in classrooms in both buildings and completing site work outside.

The middle school's completion is further along than the high school, which had more classrooms constructed in the new wing adjacent to the tennis courts.

The middle school project cost $7.4 million to complete and the high school project cost $7.6 million. John Van Teeckelenburgh, school director of buildings and grounds, said the high school project was originally estimated at $8.9 million. The project started in September 2006, so by the time the schools are in full use, it will have been three years since it started.

"The finishing touch for us on any classroom is an American flag," said Van Teeckelenburgh during a tour of both schools' construction on Tuesday. "That's how we signal that a room is done."

He said he believes the move-in to the new classrooms would be a gradual process, but he doesn't expect teachers to want to uproot and move their classes this late in the school year.

The cornerstone of the middle school project is a multipurpose room, which school leaders can use for an overflow for the cafeteria, for dance instruction, for gym classes and for other classes that may need more space.

The cafeteria was not expanded at the middle school, and as more space is needed there, the multipurpose room can be used, Van Teeckelenburgh said. It's also the only room in the new building that has blue and white walls—the other space has blue and yellow walls—so the walls can be used if there needs to be a projector, he said.

The three floors of classrooms include science laboratories—which have the necessary safety equipment—and general classrooms. There are also small group instruction rooms, which can be used for special education classes. The second floor also includes an art room.

At the high school, the expanded cafeteria could be the first area that comes online for students. Van Teeckelenburgh said the new classrooms, however, could be used for testing this spring.

The new cafeteria could be divided and used as a multipurpose area if needed, and a courtyard will be planted outside of it.

The first and second floors of the three-story addition at the high school include general purpose classrooms and science laboratories. The third floor has new art rooms, which feature a significant number of windows to allow for natural light.

"We wanted to get as much natural light in here as possible for the art students," Van Teeckelenburgh said.

The art classrooms are slightly larger at 1,000 square feet rather than the standard 800 square feet for the other classrooms. There's also track lighting and a stand for a model, and the classrooms also overlook the athletic fields.

There's a sunscreen around the third floor to protect from too much direct light into the art classrooms, and an area outside could be developed into an outdoor classroom for art students.

About 50 new parking spaces will be added to the side of the building where the expansion now stands. It will be dedicated to faculty, which will allow for more spaces in the general lot for students.

"I'm going to try to get as much (parking) as I can over here," said Van Teeckelenburgh.