High School Families,
I wanted to take this opportunity to give you an update on the Capital Project. For the past five weeks the project has centered around the new secured entry on the outside of the building. Except for the first couple of days of demolition on the entryway, this phase of the project has gone fairly smoothly with only some minor impacts to the learning environment and day to day operations. Starting tomorrow work on the project will turn to the inside of the building and over the next several months will reshape the look of our building, in particular, the library, auditorium and several bathrooms. The following are areas of the building that will see work begin this week:
- Wednesday morning at 7am pre abatement will begin on A wing bathrooms both on the inside and the outside of the building. Asbestos is encapsulated in these bathrooms so the construction company must take air samples both before and after demolition to ensure proper air quality in the building. In order to ensure the air samples return by the end of break, they must start the prep work prior to break. Please be assured that no demolition will begin on these bathrooms until Thursday afternoon at 3pm. At that time A wing will be closed until school reopens on January 3rd. Students in A wing and D wing will have to use B and G wing bathrooms until the renovations in A wing are complete. At this time we do not have a completion date for the bathroom renovations.
- Wednesday and Thursday light demolition of the library will start. This means that the construction company will be removing ceiling tiles, bookshelves, the circulation desk and things of that nature. All major demolition like jackhammering will take place over break. Prior to the start of demolition, all of the doors to the library will be sealed from the inside and all materials during demolition will be removed through the outside windows. There will also be some outside noise from vehicles carrying away debris, but it should be minimal. The library has temporarily been moved to G2 and will remain there until the library is complete by the opening of school next September. The temporary library is much smaller, but there is still a large selection of books available for students.
- Thursday, demolition will begin in the auditorium. All doors will be sealed off from the inside prior to the start of demolition. All debris will be carried out through the outside emergency exit in the auditorium. The demolition of the auditorium will be ongoing and will continue after break. This may generate more noise, but it should have a minimal impact due the location of the auditorium. The auditorium will also be under construction until the opening of school next September. The music department will be making decisions soon on where spring concerts will be held and they will communicate that to students and families in the music program once a decision is made.
- In addition, concrete will continue to be poured for the new secured entry. This has been ongoing over the past couple of weeks with no impact on our day to day operations.
I want to assure you that if noise levels become too great, if dust or fumes are present in the building or if any other issues arise that severely impact student learning or safety they will be addressed immediately. The next phase of this project will impact a much larger part of our building. I ask that you and your student remain patient and remember that the end result will benefit the entire school community for decades to come. If you have any questions about the project at the high school please feel free to contact me at (518)747-2121. I hope that you have a restful and enjoyable holiday season.
Sincerely,
Mr. Bennefield