Update on Summer Construction at the Scarsdale Schools

Though much attention has been focussed on a possible 2017 bond referendum to finance renovations at the Scarsdale Schools, this summer was spent doing extensive work on the schools funded by the 2014 bond referendum.

At the August 24th meeting of the Board of Education, Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey updated the public on the ongoing work at Edgewood and Heathcote elementary schools and projects at Scarsdale Middle and High School, which Mattey says are largely on track and on budget.

Here are the details he shared about progress made at the four schools during the summer:

Edgewood
The new main office is scheduled to be mostly complete by the middle of this week. A temporary carpet will be used until the new one arrives.

The new main entrance is set to open, with a temporary sidewalk for those entering the front of the building. The library entrance is closed. The new entrance's roof canopy is expected to be completed by late September, and the work will happen outside of school hours. A security guard will watch the entrance until automatic locks are in place.

The demolition of the library has begun, and is set to be finished by the end of this week. Work on the library has been delayed due to Con Ed's installation of a gas line and the need to remove asbestos from the site. That abatement process is now complete.

All construction areas will be fenced in, and walled barriers will separate construction and corridors within the building. All work is scheduled to be completed in late spring 2018.

Heathcote
The existing multi-purpose room has been renovated and work has begun on a new multi-purpose space.

Work on the new Heathcote playground will be finished by the end of this week.

All construction areas will be fenced in, and walled barriers will separate construction and students inside the building. All work is scheduled to be completed in late spring 2018. The principal is set to update parents this week.

Scarsdale Middle School
The instrumental music room is scheduled to be cleaned and to receive new furniture by the end of this week. The music room's renovation was expected to be completed early this week. The construction staging area is set to be vacated next week.

Scarsdale High School
The learning commons is unfinished, but is scheduled to be completed in late November.

The mezzanine, ceiling, and kitchen tiling are complete. The old gym floor is being prepared for tiling. Furniture has been ordered, and kitchen equipment has arrived.

The Physical Education offices are complete and open.

The I-Lab is close to completion but unable to be used because of access and egress issues. It will be accessible once the learning commons is complete.

Work on the drainage in the high school courtyard is behind schedule due to original design issues. Work on it recently started and will continue outside school hours. It is expected to be completed in the first week of December.

Cardio equipment is arriving this week for the new fitness center. Strength training equipment should arrive and be installed on September 6. The fitness center will be open to students the following day.

Work will continue on the design lab due to errors in coordination with the courtyard drainage project. The hall between the Design Lab and the courtyard will be closed until completion. It is scheduled to be finished on December 15th.

We spoke to Heathcote Principal Maria Stile who is very excited about the construction and the new spaces in the works for the children. She said, "We are in good shape. This plan has been in the work for ten years, since we had outgrown our multipurpose room and had to use the gym to serve lunch."

She explained that the existing multipurpose room has been reconfigured into a smaller room to serve lunch to grades K-2, with the remaining space constructed into 4 small classrooms that will be used to deliver services such as speech, reading, English as a second language and the learning center. These rooms are ready now and will be in use this fall. Before the school had these rooms, services were being delivered on the stage of the auditorium.

A new and larger multipurpose room is now under construction and is expected to be completed in April. That room will be used for lunch for the upper grades. There will also be a prep kitchen installed between the two multi-purpose rooms for food.

Also new this year is an expanded playground at Heathcote where it was determined that the equipment was inadequate for the number of students at the school. New equipment has been installed and the larger playground will be available to students at the opening of school. A ribbon-cutting ceremony may be held to celebrate the new facilities.

She also wanted to reassure parents that pick up and drop off will go smoothly during the construction. She met with the police and village officials this week and they will work to make sure traffic flows smoothly at the school.