No matter the preparation, a school construction project can force on-the-fly adjustments.

Students and staff who moved to one of six temporary classrooms in the Lehighton Area Middle School auditorium said Wednesday they're adapting quite well to their new digs.The district is in the midst of a renovation project that includes installing a four-pipe central heat pump system for $7.72 million. Wing by wing, each classroom will have work completed, meaning some students were relocated to the temporary space until their portion of the school is finished.Currently, the 1,000-square-foot classrooms are occupied by students, around 20 per room, in grades sixth through eighth."It's definitely different from the traditional classroom setting, but overall it's going a lot better than I expected," Jena Wank, sixth-grade teacher, said. "I know all of the teachers here are willing to be flexible with the end product in mind."The technology staff moved projectors, interactive whiteboards and other instructional items to the classrooms."They made sure this was a smooth transition," said Jenn Tracy. "The students have really responded well."A full list of the classroom changes, which became effective Monday, can be found on the middle school's website,

www.lehighton.org/MiddleSchool.cfm.Elsewhere in the auditorium, the staff has set up a temporary library. Bookcases are located on the ground level, while a makeshift media suite is on the stage.A safety wall was installed at the edge of the stage, ensuring nobody would accidentally fall."Even though the classrooms and library are temporary, we had to meet stringent code requirements in the auditorium," Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. "Each of the classrooms has a fresh air condensing unit to make sure a proper amount of fresh air is circulating. The fire company did a walk through and we have had drills so that students and staff know the exit plan."The first phase of renovations at the middle school is expected to be complete by late April or early May.Because it's being used as classroom space, the auditorium will be the last part of the project completed. New seats will be installed as well as sound and lighting improvements."Work right now is centered in classrooms in the D-wing, or the back of the building by the modulars," Cleaver said.In addition to HVAC upgrades, bathrooms are being brought into ADA compliance with new sinks and toilets."There are other things we're finding out as we go along," Cleaver said. "The last major renovation to this building was done in the early 1990s. Old light ballasts were never removed and when they upgraded back then, they wired the old lights to the new lights. With new codes, that has to be addressed before we'd ever pass an inspection."The renovations are part of $25.7 million of work Lehighton approved at its middle and high schools in September.The bulk of work at the high school, which also includes HVAC upgrades, will be done in the summer when school is out.Nonetheless, Cleaver said the school board will soon be voting on a recommendation to start school after Labor Day in 2016-17."That will give us a couple more days for our construction projects while students are not in the building," he said.Middle and high school offices will be relocated to Shull-David Elementary School for the summer.The district's summer program will also be held at Shull-David.