With the recent New York State Education Department approval of district plans for a new addition and renovations at Wellwood Middle School, the district is moving forward with the largest portion of the $45.2 million capital project that voters approved in 2017.
The total project includes an addition at Enders Road Elementary, which was completed in September, and a renovation of F-M High School’s bathrooms and library media center, which students and staff began using in November. The project also includes lighting and infrastructure work district wide, such as the new lighting that was installed at the high school athletic stadium in September.
“We are excited to have several pieces of the overall capital project complete and look forward to this next phase, which will retain the nostalgia and historical significance of our oldest school building while updating it to meet the current and future educational needs of our students and staff,” Superintendent Craig J. Tice said.
With construction at Wellwood anticipated to begin this spring, the district’s architects have been working with fabricator Modular Genius to design and construct an eight-classroom modular building that will be located behind the school and used for temporary classroom space during construction.
The district had anticipated the modular suite would be installed during spring 2020; however, the district is still awaiting state approval for the temporary classrooms portion of the capital project. District officials are now planning for a summer 2020 installation so the temporary classrooms will be ready for use during the 2020-21 school year.
An enclosed corridor will connect the modular suite to Wellwood so that students and staff will remain indoors as they travel to and from the building to the temporary classroom space. Each classroom in the modular unit will be equipped with the instructional technology that both teachers and students use on a daily basis so there will be a seamless transition from their classrooms within the school to the classrooms within the modular unit. It will also have heat and air conditioning and include both student and staff restrooms.
“These temporary classrooms will meet the needs of our students and staff and allow them to continue teaching and learning with minimal disruption as we embark on this next part of the capital project,” Tice said.