Our children are back on campus and classes are in full stride! The month of August brought many exciting updates, along with some hiccups. Our entire community has worked together to overcome these challenges with grace and strength.
The Toddler and Children’s House Village East looks very different from our last update – there is now a roof, walls, windows, and doors! Inside, the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical have all been set and the workers are finishing up with the drywall. In addition, the road that runs in front of the Main Building has been torn up to make way for new utilities and a new road has been paved in its place.
Our entire school community had the opportunity to experience the unpredictable nature of renovations when the power was lost on the first day of school. Our children were excited to learn about the ins and outs of construction and it was a beautiful day to be outside, so it was a harmless inconvenience. Since then, things have been running smoothly!
We are all looking forward to moving into the new building in November.
In June, our building project hit full stride – we have seen walls literally pop up overnight! Although many of our families and staff are off for the summer, our construction continues on and it is great to see the amazing progress.
The half of the Multipurpose Building that is being renovated was stripped down to the bones, windows, siding, and interior framing then took place in this side – making it even easier to picture the spacious, bright Toddler and Children’s House classrooms that are soon to occupy the space. In the east side, the cement floors were poured, steel beams were installed, and the exterior framing is going up. On the other side of campus, workers are digging a trench for utilities.
In the coming weeks, the sheathing, siding, and roof will go up on the new building, providing a true vision of the exterior of our new Toddler and Children’s House Village East. In addition, the construction crew will continue to work on utilities, with their trench extending into the road in front of the Main Building. If you are attending any of our summer programs, please be on the lookout for a revised traffic pattern.
To learn more about our building project, please visit the Capital Project landing page, and feel free to stop by to see the spectacle for yourselves!
Though the ample spring rains have been trying at times, the project found a much more productive rhythm in May. After spending April in a battle of wills with the vein of Cockeysville Marble running through the site, rock breaking yielded to a considerable amount of grading and foundation preparation. The new addition’s configuration has taken form as footings have been poured—their purpose is to support the foundation and prevent settling, and the site has been cleared of all remaining intrusive elements—electrical and internet cables and less difficult sections of rock.
On the interior, load bearing walls have been demolished and structural steel beams and columns await installation, the existing slab has been cut in various places for plumbing rough-ins, new plywood sheathing has been installed, and window and door openings cut throughout. With a little imagination – ok, maybe a lot – you can see the new classroom building taking shape. June’s efforts will bring far greater clarity to the image.
If you have been on campus in the past two weeks, you may have seen a very exciting change – the east side of our Multipurpose Building has been demolished! Much to the delight of our children, the excavator began taking down the building in the morning last week. Children gathered in the center island to watch the entire process.
Since then, the construction workers have been busy clearing the rubble from the area and continuing the soft demolition of the rest of the Multipurpose Building. The spaces formally known as the Multipurpose Room and the Blue Room will be completely renovated to make way for a Toddler and Children’s House Village. Once the debris from the east side is removed, the foundation and framing will begin for additional classrooms.
We are excited to see such progress on our busy campus!
It has been a couple of months since we have started construction at Greenspring Montessori School. While much of the work still remains behind the scenes (interior demolition of the Multipurpose Building, relocation of wiring, new water pipes for the Student Activity Center, finishing up the storm water management pond), there are still many very real signs of construction on campus!
Classes have ventured to get a closer look at the jack hammer breaking up the underlying rock behind the Student Activity Center (and there is a lot of rock to break!). Toddlers have been learning the names of construction vehicles and tools. Children’s House students have been practicing their own construction skills in the classrooms with hammering, sawing, drilling, and safety lessons. Our play spaces and outdoor environments are getting new rocks and greenery that we have repurposed from the construction area.
In addition, we are looking ahead excitedly for the newly renovated classrooms. We have selected our tile and carpet samples, along with our wall colors! Our staff are also meeting to discuss the fixtures in our kitchens, restrooms, and classrooms. With this, we can begin to paint a picture in our minds of what the new buildings will look like.
Just imagine walking into the Toddler and Children’s House Village East (currently the Multipurpose Building), where the classrooms are all a buzz with activity. Large windows let natural light pour in on to the many Montessori materials neatly placed on the shelves. This building is completely new, but it fits in with the historic charm of the rest of campus. Clean cream walls and neutral flooring allows the room to fade away, so that the child’s work becomes the primary focus.
In all of the rooms, children move freely in between the indoor and outdoor environments. Outside, there is even more space for the children to garden, work with materials, and observe the great world around them.
The communal kitchens in each building will allow for all of our children and our faculty to bake and cook regularly, incorporating more fresh foods into their daily snacks.
All in all, these new villages will provide an immersive and fully-Montessori space for our children to grow and flourish.
In the coming weeks and months, we will begin to truly see this vision take shape. Once the interior demolition of the Multipurpose Building is complete and the storm water management pond is in place, the external demolition will begin. After that is cleaned up and hauled away, workers will start the framing of the new Village. We look forward to sharing more of this journey with our community this spring!
It has been a very busy month of construction at Greenspring Montessori School!
We are finally beginning to see the signs that our extensive project is underway. It is a great feeling for all those involved in planning and preparation for this project over the past two years. We have worked very hard to get to this point and this is a major accomplishment to celebrate!
To recap, our construction team created a temporary access road across the back of the soccer field, installed safety fencing around the Multipurpose building, and began the excavation of the stone water management area behind the Student Activity Center.
Many of the rocks were repurposed for our outdoor environments.
The last task proved to be the most tricky, as we found massive rock slabs that needed to be removed. For three days now, there has been a constant drone of a jack hammer across campus, but they have finally been able to remove most of the rock! This has also been a blessing in disguise, as we have been able to use many of the “scrap” rocks in our outdoor environments and decorative garden beds across campus.
Also, a team did safety walk-throughs in the Multipurpose Building, to assure that the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical are all prepared for demolition in the coming weeks. Workers will be doing the demo from the inside out, so to speak. They will be tearing down cabinets, drywall, and all non-structural elements before moving to the major demolition outside. Keep a look out for the first signs of demolition of the Multipurpose Building! While there will not be any theatricals or wrecking balls, it is still sure to be an interesting sight.
We are looking forward to see what exciting construction news we will have in March! Stay tuned for our latest updates.
