School Building Project Making Progress Daily

The school building project is making progress everyday, according to Superintendent Kathleen Willis. The project is still running on schedule, and on budget, she said.

The first phase of blasting was completed at the end of June and another phase of blasting is expected to start in July. The dates have yet to be determined, Willis said. The first phase removed the ledge in the area where the new access road will be built, according to School Committee Chairman Mel Webster. The second phase of blasting will be on the student parking lot side of the current high school in the area where the wastewater treatment plant is being built, Webster said.

“The blasting is considered low-level and the impact to the educational process has been minimal. Residents in the area were made aware of the blasting well in advance,” he said.

Stud framing has started on the academic wing. Electrical and plumbing work has started and will continue under the first floor slab at the academic wing, Webster told Patch.

Structural steel for the gym is expected to be complete by the end of July.

“Once that is completed all structural steel will be done,” Webster said.

Work on the roof of the high school academic wing will begin in July. When that is complete, workers can start on the electrical side of things.

Students and town officials had the opportunity to sign the topping off beam, Webster said.

“Everything looks good,” he said.

In mid-June, Superintendent Kathleen Willis, High School Principal Jon Bernard, Middle School Principal Catherine O'Connell and Director of Academic Services Patrick Daly went to Beverly and Tewksbury High School to tour the facilities. They saw new furniture and equipment in the classrooms, science labs, auditorium and performing arts center to help them visualize the furniture they plan to buy for the new school.

“It was time well spent,” Willis said.

Moving forward, they will meet again with the furniture consultant to review their choices and make revisions to the list of furniture they had already planned to buy for the schools.

They plan to put together a model classroom at the high school at the beginning of the new school year for teachers and students. Both teachers and students will be able to use the furniture and teachers will be able to participate in the furniture selection process, Willis said.

Willis was recently at the top of the academic wing on the construction site and said that the Boston skyline is easy to see from the top floor of the high school and “it’s just beautiful.”

The project is still on time and budget.

“So much is accomplished every day, the site changes daily,” Willis said.