District leaders are pleased with the progress of the Bryden and Hilltop elementary school construction projects, which have been underway for over a year.
“We are still running slightly under budget,” Superintendent Dr. Bob Hardis said.
The process has been efficient as well as affordable, although it has required a great deal of attention.
The process has been a top priority for school district administrators. Hardis said in a typical week he spends five to ten hours working on the projects.
Since before the construction began in the summer of 2024, Hardis, Treasurer Matt Brown and Asst. Superintendent Ken Veon have also spent a great deal of time in meetings with ThenDesign Architecture and Hammond Construction, the companies building the new schools, as well as with other groups affected by the construction.
When the buildings are complete there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony so that students, parents, teachers and administrators can celebrate the opening of the new schools.
Contractors did encounter one unexpected obstacle at the Hilltop site, causing a delay when shale was discovered under the building.
“[Shale] is a sedimentary rock formation,” Hardis said. “Shale can expand when it gets wet, and so if shale is under your building, you have to remediate it.”
Contractors were able to remove the shale, and despite being slightly behind compared to Bryden, Hilltop construction is now moving quickly.
The new buildings will bring many upgrades for students and teachers, including better wifi, more restrooms and better HVAC systems.
“What I’m very excited about is that all the unified arts are going to be in one hallway,” Hilltop teacher Alesha Trudell said.
Bryden teacher Jessica Ezzi is also looking forward to moving into the new building.
“I think having just a bigger space, so everyone has a designated space will be really exciting,” she said.
The construction process has resulted in some minor challenges for teachers and students to work around. The kids are adapting well, however, and the construction has presented a teachable moment.
“[Hammond Construction] has come in and done assemblies with the kids, and then they come and take the kids outside to see the process,” Trudell said.
“It became really fun to look out and see the progress, and it was really cool to just try to envision what it’s going to look like,” Trudell said.
The project was motivated by several problems with the two 70-Year-Old buildings. The schools were not designed with a lot of features now needed in school buildings.
“[We have been] making due with taking a space and trying to make it fit a different purpose,” Hardis said.
Hardis thinks new buildings with rooms designed for their purpose is going to significantly improve the lives of teachers and students at both locations.
The new buildings will have many improvements that are necessary in school buildings now, but were not taken into consideration when the schools were built in the 1950s.
“It’s not the best space,” Trudell said. “Sometimes the Internet goes out… the rooms aren’t updated for all the [new] technology and science labs. And so in the new building, it’s going to allow for all of that.”
The BHS building was renovated in 2011-2015, which gave Hardis experience managing construction.
“Some very significant lessons were learned on our high school renovation project,” Hardis said. “The way that the school district could establish their contracts with the architect and their construction manager has changed since then.”
Students and teachers are eager to begin working in the new buildings in less than a year.
“It’s such a big, exciting thing and something that will really improve the students’ experience,” Ezzi said.
“l’ve never, in all my years of school, never been in a new building, so it’s really exciting to see,” Trudell said.
