Preparing Our Schools for Success: Take a tour of summer renovations underway

Extensive renovations and constructions are underway in schools across the White Plains City School District, including its five elementary schools – where students will experience a host of new features as they kick off the new academic year in their improved buildings.

At Church Street Elementary School on Thursday, portable fans were set up on both floors to keep busy workers cool as they tackled projects ranging from building fire-rated walls, upgrading the hallways, improving the cafeteria service area and installing a ramp to the main entrance.

On hand was Xavier Hernandez-Delgado, the district’s director of school facilities and operations, who expressed his satisfaction with the quality and progress of the work being done in various schools.

“Even though the schedule is tight, I believe we are moving at a good pace. Construction material is arriving and vendors are on site,” Mr. Hernandez-Delgado said. “As you open walls, of course, you don’t know what is behind … sometimes you find new elements that might need to change the scope of work a little bit.

“But I believe we’re still on schedule and on good timing to complete all the work before the opening of the school year,” he added.
The work being conducted at Church Street included the hallways, where wainscoting was applied to the bottom of the walls and the sections above the decorative panels were painted. The work also brings the corridors in compliance with fire codes.

Outside multiple classrooms, workers also were busy erecting walls that will reach the ceiling and comply with the codes. In the cafeteria, which will receive new windows, workers were upgrading the serving area outside the kitchen and preparing it for movable bins and register stands.

The roll-down door separating the dining room from the service area will be replaced with more stylish double doors, Mr. Hernandez-Delgado said.

Meanwhile, the library innovation lab was undergoing extensive renovation, including new flooring, doors, ceiling and lighting before configurable cabinets on wheels will be brought in to spruce up the look and enhance the functionality of the space. 

Students can also expect to feel comfortable throughout the building after ventilation work is completed on the exhaust fans in the HVAC system, Mr. Hernandez-Delgado said.

Outside the main entrance, workers were in the process of installing a ramp that meets the requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act, while asbestos abatement work was underway inside near the main doors.

Not all the work was part of the capital improvement project. Extensive work also is being planned to remove a concrete barrier in the driveway outside and create an area for diagonal parking for the school’s managers, the facilities chief said. He said that the project falls under maintenance in the operating budget.

Also in that category is the auditorium, which is slated to receive new chairs and flooring.

Similar work was underway in the other elementary schools, including HVAC upgrades and kitchen serving area improvements at George Washington; Library Innovation Lab, corridor and serving area upgrades at Mamaroneck Avenue, where an ADA-compliant lift chair is being installed for the Music Room; and Library Innovation Lab and serving area upgrades at Ridgeway.

Mamaroneck Avenue and Ridgeway also are undergoing electrical upgrades, Mr. Hernandez-Delgado said.

There is less extensive work being done at the comparatively new Post Road Elementary School, which will receive upgrades to its baseball and soccer fields to address poor drainage, he explained.

Dr. Ann Vaccaro-Teich, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations, said she, too, was satisfied with the work being conducted across the district.

“We are pleased at the progress of the renovations taking place at each of the elementary schools for its kitchens and libraries, the start of construction for the new High School Innovation Wing and the continuation of completing HVAC district-wide, along with the numerous maintenance projects taking place throughout the district,” she said.

In 2022, voters approved the expenditure of $71.4 million for the districtwide renovations, improvements and new educational space taking place under Phase I at the elementary schools, White Plains High School and Rochambeau Alternative High School.
“We are also updating the District’s Master Plan and starting the planning for Phase II,” Dr. Vaccaro-Teich said.

The district partnered with a team of architects from H2M and Triton Construction managers to develop the Long-Range Facilities Master Plan, which laid out its vision for the buildings and grounds. The work is being conducted at no new cost for taxpayers.