HomeMy WebLinkAboutNew Schools Opening-1996 The Hammers Are Potmdiiigl
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Everywhere you go in Seminole County,you see evidence of Other New Projects
the school building program currently underway.New construc-
tion and renovation of old designs are keeping the Facilities "Several other projects are in the planning stages,"says Kramer.
Department extremely busy."The challenge for us is to keep up 'Things are in constant motion in this department."A new el-
with the growth in the county without overbuilding.We don't ementary school is being planned for the Sanford area and a
want to build schools today that might be closed in the future new Exceptional Student Education facility is planned on the
because there aren't enough students," said Dianne Kramer, site of the old Hopper Elementary.These new facilities will serve
Executive Director for Facilities."Population projections indi- the growing populations at Goldsboro and Rosenwald. I
,
cate that the under 18 population in the county may level off
within the next ten to fifteen years.In light of this,we need to A Functional Facility
develop our building plans so we meet today's needs without Accessible to the Community
exceeding the growth projections for the county." The new Educational Support Center opened in December
New Schools Slated to Open and houses approximately 250 employees.This new building,
located on Lake Mary Boulevard,replaces the old facility on
Next school year,two new elementary schools are slated to open. Mellonville Avenue in Sanford.District-level employees are not
Highlands Elementary will open its doors the only ones enjoying this new facility.
to students in the Longwood-Winter As the community becomes aware of the
Springs area when school begins in Au- training rooms,meeting rooms,and pre-
gust and Carillon Elementary,serving the - sentation equipment,more and more re-
Oviedo area,will open in January 1997. ''' - ,.r ., quests are being made to use the facility.
These new schools will add 1,600 student -., SCPS is honoring as many of these as pos-
stations to the district's capacity. irco1► -� Bible,because the facility belongs to the
•In addition,the newest high school facil- � ,.- , ' entire community.
ity will be used m the fall to accommo- .m: 0 • ` '.c Looking for Ways to Save$$
date the students currently attending Lake t • .% V-
Howell High School because of the reno- of w Kramer and her staff are making changes
in the operation of their department that are
vations planned at that site.In the fall of An aerial view of the new Highlands Elementary in 1� P�
1997,the new school will officially be- Winter Springs which will open in August.A student definite money savers for the district.They
come Winter Springs High School with capacity of 788 pupils,the school was built at a cost of have initiated a direct purchase program for
a student capacity of 2,580 students. $7.5 million and has 112,000 square feet. building materials that saves sales tax pay-
ments on construction projects.This new
'Ibagne Middle School will open school practice has already saved almost
at its current location,but on October 21st, $1,000,000 in capital outlay expenditures.
students will return from the fall break to a _ In addition,other delivery options have
! been new school address.The new facil- been implemented."Value Engineering"is
ity will house approximately 300 more Btu- Alli;.• a concept that reduces dollars spent on con-
dents and will feature new technology and struction change orders and"Partnering"
a more up-to-date school environment. i s a practice in which the architect,con-
"' °' " tractor and district form a partnership for
The New 3 R'S *` project management.This process estab-
Renovate,remodel and redesign are the lishes a format for planning and problem
three R's being used in the Facilities De- solving that involves all the stakeholders
partment.The drawing boards are filled An aerial view of the new Winter Springs High School meeting together to discuss issues before
with new plans for older buildings w2th will N weU High whooilh Win Pre cgs has c they become problems.
around the county. South Seminole student capacity of 2,f80 and was built at a cost of$31 The new telephone system is proving to
Middle students will begin the 1997-98 ,pillion on approximately 60 acres of property. be another money-saver. Although the
school year in new buildings and a to-
tally renovated campus.The"new"school will include a three phone project will be implemented in stages,the district is al-
story academic building,a new administration building and a ready reaping the benefits.Least Cost Routing is a cost effec-
new gymnasium. tive system for calling inside and outside the district.The dis-
trict office, Lyman High and Longwood Elementary are al-
Lake Howell High is undergoing a major facelift.The old round- ready on-line for the new system and long-range plans call for
building,which does not meet ADA code,will be replaced by all schools in the district to be networked via the telephone sys-
buildings that are more serviceable and flexible This construe- tern. The new system places a phone in every classroom.The
tion project saves the district in the long-run because it will intangible benefits of this system include conference calls and
eliminate the many repair costs associated with the round build- the ability of teachers to report student Information to parents
ings.Because of the time constraints(1 year)associated with more efficiently and frequently.Imagine the impact on a stu-
r this project,the district is using construction management"at dent when a teacher picks up the phone and calls a parent to say,
risk"for the first time.With this construction delivery option, "Janie just made an A+on her math test,"or the impact on class-
the School Board selected the contractor based on qualifica- room discipline when a teacher says,"Janie,please call your
tions and negotiated the construction cost and schedule.The parents and explain why you are misbehaving in my class."
contract includes incentives and overtime provisions to meet
the reopening deadline of August, 1997. And the Beat Goes On
Other renovation projects are either underway or on the Galen- The capital improvement plan is ongoing.The facilities staff is 9' 01�/�
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Pr'oJ
dar for the very near future.Construction is slated for English always refining the process,maintaining what is already built,
Estates,Goldsboro,and Sanford Middle. and planning for what needs to be built in the future.
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