[invertedBottles]

I've still been reading, and many points I completely agree with. After discussing with our teacher mentor, we have decided to choose one or more of the following: drill press, band saw, and/or miter saw/chop saw. We have just met a new mentor who recently moved into the area that is experienced with all types of part manufacturing, including milling. Hopefully he'll be able to stick around and teach us. We will have sufficient space for these tools without having to worry about the schools wiring. All the other smaller suggestions, if mentioned, will probably be budgeted for. We have the storage space and would rather have things handy when we need it instead of running out at 9pm on the second to last day of build season to pickup something trivial.

I am personally still considering security options, together with our lead mentor. One of our considerations is installing a locking accordion door/wall to divide the classroom and workshop (possibly with a door on a panel. Does anyone know a more specific name for something like this? And how much it would run us? I think we do have admin approval for this. Our school's gym has a much larger version of this, which is a floor to ceiling wall made of several panels that folds into an accordion and slides out to form a complete wall. Ours doesn't have to powered.