August 29, 2014

Another productive week for the construction crew!  Here are some photos of what's going on with our project.

The Hope Garden in the foreground, and the new classroom building in the background.  Notice that the corn is growing beautifully and will be ready to harvest soon, we hope!

The contractors decided to work on the walkway fronting the Administration Building now instead of waiting until the summer.  This week, they set up the posts.

It looks like the outdoor dining pavilion will be ready by the second quarter.  We will have a schedule for groups to sign up to dine in this area (e.g. Greeters Club, JPOs, or specific classes).  

The front of the office is finally done!  Doesn't it look great?

Within a couple of weeks, the library will be demolished.  It took longer-than-expected to abate the building because there was lead in the paint.  Now it's done, and the library will soon be gone. 

August 25, 2014

During the last week, the glass doors were installed; it's so much nicer than the plywood doors we were using!  A few colored glass panes have not yet been installed; they were just delivered.

Progress on the classroom building continues.  Right now, the projected date for completion is mid-March.  We're hoping we can move in by Spring Break, but it would be wonderful if work is completed before then!

Abatement is ongoing in the library and office buildings.  Very soon, work will begin on demolition of these buildings.  The plan is to demolish the buildings during a weekend to minimize the impact on teaching and learning.

Not quite done yet, but here is a photo of the front of the administration building.

Working on the classroom building

Getting taller each day!  The building is huge, the first two-story building on our campus!

Finally got these certificates into our display board - JVEF Commendation Award and our WASC Accreditation Certificate

When our SASA was cleaning our old office, she found this photo of our school.  It must have been taken around 1959 when our school was first built.  We're having it restored for our administration building wall.  Can't wait to see it when it's done!

Friday, August 15

Yesterday, Gary Willis visited Hale Kula to update the grantors on the progress of our project.  Mr. Willis is from the Office of Economic Adjustment in Washington, D.C, and the project manager for our construction grant.  At his last visit in April, he asked what the contingency plans were if the administration building was not completed in time for school.  I remember smiling and saying, "The construction company said they would be done."  Yesterday, he recalled that conversation as he took photos of our new offices.  Kudos to our contractors for their continued commitment to our school project!  He was amazed that we were actually working out of the new administration building!

Today is a holiday, Statehood Day, but workers are on campus, completing work that can best be done when school is not in session.  Hopefully, I will be able to share a photo on Monday of the completed office!

Work continues on the classroom building.  

We are in the hub area (hallway) looking towards building B.  On the bottom floor, there will be 4 classrooms (grades 2 and 3), one special education room, a teachers' workroom, and a therapy room for district providers.

This is the restroom area; toilets will be inside, and the sink area is outside so teachers can keep an eye on the students when they go to the restroom.

Workers are pulling co-ax cable today and checking data drops in the classrooms.

We scheduled a pour for the concrete slab for the outdoor dining pavilion adjacent to the cafeteria.

Workers are removing the plywood so the glass windows and doors can be installed.

Yesterday, the glass for the principal's office was installed.  Now I have a clear view of the office (and they have a clear view of me).

A panoramic view of the principal's office including the adjoining conference room

August 8, 2014 - A Day Off from School

In my last blog, I shared that I had been remiss in not taking as many photos as I would have liked during the first week of school. That afternoon, I went around to take a few photos so I could share with all of you about our construction project, especially those of you who are no longer at Hale Kula.

We have been spending a lot of hours at school because we are still moving things from the old office to the new one.  I asked our staff if they had heard any complaints from parents about the long walk to the office or the barriers or the noise, and everyone said they hadn't.  If anything, parents have been sharing that once everything was done, the school would be awesome!  That was so nice to hear; I hadn't heard complaints either so it confirms that we have such wonderful families who realize the importance of this construction project!

Today, all public schools in Hawaii are closed due to Hurricane Iselle and Hurricane Julio.  Imagine that - not one, but two possible hurricanes here in Hawaii!  Right now, it's rainy and the wind is picking up, but it's not so bad here in Central Oahu (though I did see that there is a power outage on Schofield). We secured all the buildings yesterday and made sure everything was closed up tight in the new office. Now, the waiting begins as we weather the storms.

Thought I'd share this picture of the Hope Garden.  The flowers are in bloom and add a lovely touch of color to our campus!

This is a view of one side of the Administration Building.  As you can see, one of the doors is still not installed.  When that door is done, staff can come in through the front door, get their mail from their mailbox, sign in a the counter, and leave through that side door.  This will alleviate some of the traffic in the office in the morning.  By the way, the principal's office is the one directly to the right of that door.  I love my new office and conference room!

This is a view of the classroom building taken from  A-building . . . 

. . . and this is the view from C-building.  As you probably notice, work is more complete on this side.  The roofline will be asymmetrical, similar to the roofline on the administration building. We are hopeful that students will be able to move into this building during the second semester.

A New School Year

School started last week, and I haven't taken any updated photos of our construction project.  Frankly, it has been so busy and walking from one end of the campus to the other requires more time due to all the barriers.  Not a bad thing though because I certainly can use the exercise!

Moving to the new administrative building is taking longer than we thought.  It looks like some of the supplies have been stored for a long time.  Our  new office is much larger than the old one, but there seems to be a shortage of storage space.  Where was everything hiding all this time?  I guess we'll have to do some purging.

Today, the construction workers were reinforcing the office windows (not all of the glass has been installed yet) in anticipation of Hurricane Iselle and Tropical Storm Julio which may reach our island as early as Thursday evening.  They were also clearing the area of any materials/supplies which could be carried away in strong winds.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that the storm will dissipate before it hits Oahu, but we certainly appreciate the diligence of the contractors to ensure that the area is safe for our school community.

Here is a photo of the inside of our office.  I will try to do better in the future!