At recess time, young Bancroft Elementary School children press their little faces up to the mesh fencing so they can get the best view of the construction going on.
School Committee member Annie Gilbert has a hard hat she must wear when she visits the construction site for the new Bancroft Elementary School being built next to the current school.
“I was walking by the kindergarten playground,” she said. “Kids came up to me and said, ‘Are you one of the builders?!”
Clearly students are excited about the project going on next door to their school. And kindergarteners have the best view, as the new building is being constructed nearest to their classrooms. There will be a lot of interesting moments for them.
Principal Malcolm Forsman said that while students are enjoying the sight of all the construction equipment, noise hasn’t negatively affected their school day.
“The construction has not impacted the learning to any degree that’s worth mentioning,” he said. “It’s been all positive as far as our interaction with the construction... Having a building completely separate takes away a lot of the anxiety and ongoing planning that needs to be done.”
Here are some of the key moments ahead and the dates school officials expect them to happen if the project goes according to plan:
Now:
Concrete foundation being poured
December 2012:
Steel beams erected
March 2012:
Topping off ceremony planned to celebrate placement of highest steel beam. Students will sign the beam and watch a crane places it at top of the building.
August 2013:
The building will be weather tight, meaning much of the work ahead will take place within the new school building.
April 2014:
The new school will be complete. Students will continue to use the existing, older school building until the end of the year.
Late June 2014/early July:
Demolition of the old building begins.
September 2014:
Kids move into their new Bancroft Elementary School.
October 2014:
Landscaping of the school grounds, including of the area where the now demolished former school once sat, is completed.
