February 22, 2015

The walls are going up for the library media/student center!  After all the infrastructure is done and the workers start on the walls, I feel like we are really making progress.  Of course, the infrastructure and the foundation are critical to the building, but I feel so much more excited when I can see the structure forming.

Not too many photos last week, but hopefully, I'll remember to take more this coming week.

Getting the area ready for our covered playcourt on the side of the school facing Waianae Avenue

Tiles were stacked and ready-to-go!

Yeah!  The walls are being built for the library media/student center!

This is the ladder that goes up to the roof of the classroom building.  It was installed last week, and no, it will not be out in the open.   

It's a little hard to envision, but these are "clouds" on the second floor of the classroom building.  Similar to the clouds in the administration building, they are intended to absorb some of the sound since the ceilings are so high.  The red pipes are part of the fire extinguisher system.  And yes, the colors are rather bright - green and gold with light blue doors on the second floor. (The first floor is blue and red.) The colors will match the floor tiles which we are anxiously waiting for.

February 14, 2015

It's Valentine's Day and Monday is Presidents Day! Right now, the weather is miserable - rainy and windy - so surely, the construction crew would not have worked today.  Hopefully, the weather will improve over this 3-day weekend.

In my last blog, I mentioned that the rain was a concern for me after the workers poured the library media/student center footings last week.  Bob Purdie from the DOE Facilities Branch emailed me that the water is not a bad thing.  He stated, "As long as the rain is not driving, and thus washing away the surface cement, an excess of moisture is a big boon to the curing process.  What you don't need is the silt and other floated debris, but that is easily washed or blown away from the surface later." Thank you, Bob, for clarifying my misconception!  His email was actually very informative.  He added, "In fact, concrete, properly batched, will continue to cure over its whole thousands of years of life and if temperature cracks occur, the presence of excess water without tensile stress will allow "autogenous" healing or sealing of the crack by re-activating the latent cements present." I am learning so much by watching and asking questions.  Thanks, Bob!

Once workers pour the last of the pad for the library media/student center (I think it'll be this coming week), worker will start on the building's exterior.  This is a 2-story building as well and will house a state-of-the-art library, a media center and technology lab, and lots of room for our counselors, instructional coaches, speech language pathologists, our Student Services Coordinator, the Tripler School Mental Health Team. There will be several meeting and testing rooms; we've been scrambling to find available space for meetings so this will be a welcome addition to our school.

I didn't take too many photos this week, but here are a few:

Pouring the footings for the Student Center part of the new building.

After the concrete hardened, workers took off the footing frames.  Next, we have a concrete pour for the SOG padding.

I will always wonder how they get the heavy cement up the long neck.  How does it work on much taller buildings?

Smoothing out the concrete on the pad for the front of the library media part of the building

Meanwhile, work continues on the special education classroom next to J-building.

Continued Progress!

Monday's weather was unfortunate.  High winds and heavy rain in the morning meant that the concrete pour could not be completed.  Workers poured the last of the footings for the new library media/student center, but the padding couldn't be poured.  The heavy rain meant that some of the work needed to be delayed because the ground was not dry enough.  We're hoping to get back-on-track next Wednesday with the pouring of the remaining SOG areas.

Notice the water that's accumulated in the footings? This is after the concrete was poured.

This is how it looked the next day - we were lucky to get that pour in so workers could prepare the slab on grade.

We temporarily relocated students in P11, P13, and P17 so workers could work on the walkway from the new building to Building A. The roof for the walkway will be completed during the summer, but the sidewalk had to be done now. 

We took a tour through the new classroom building.  The colors are rather bright, but I think we'll get used to them.  I really love the tiling in the student restrooms!  This is the girls' restroom.  

The flooring still has to be installed, but this is how it looks on the inside of the girls' restroom.

And this is the outside of the boys' restroom!  Do you know how we will remember which is their restroom?  Blue for boys; green for girls.  

By the way, the wash basins are not in the restrooms; they're outside.  Now kids can't play around because the teachers can see them when they're washing their hands.

This is the entryway on the bottom floor of the building.  Workers are still installing the other entry doors as well as some of the windows that are nearer the ceilings. 

January 23, 2015

I didn't realize that it's been two weeks since I updated this blog.  I apologize for missing last week.

Next week, we'll be temporarily moving P13 to G1 and P17 to H2 so that the contractors can complete the sidewalk to join the new classroom building and A-building. This should be temporary, and hopefully, the classes will be able to move by spring break.  In the meantime, Mr. Merriam will go to the classes to do drama, and the Instructional Coaches have moved to other classrooms so the students can have a classroom.

More happenings with our project:

The grass is starting to grow! The landscaper said 6-8 weeks; it's been 2 weeks now.  Let's see how long it'll take.

The contractor's office is now right in front of the main office.  They're slowly moving the staging area to the back of the school, but first, they have to build a new gate so the workers can get in and out.

The dining pavilion furniture was installed yesterday and today! 6 round tables, 2 with handicapped accessibility, 7-8 to a table.  Landscapers will be planting grass around the area, probably during spring break.

The whole side area by Waianae Avenue will be blocked off next week to start work on the covered playcourt.  PE will be moved to the back of the school, and recess times will have to be adjusted now that the space is limited.

In a couple of weeks, they'll be pouring more of the SOG. I think that may be the last concrete pour for the slab on grade.

January 12, 2015

Tomorrow, students return from winter break.  Officially, we are halfway through our construction project.  If all goes according to plan, the project will be complete in the summer of 2016.  Time certainly is going quickly! This spring, we hope to move into the new classroom building.  We can't wait!

Last week, work began on the special education classroom next to J4 where Portable 9 previously was located.  The plan is to complete the classroom by next school year.  This room will include appliances so students can learn life skills in addition to academics. 

 

It was pretty amazing to see how workers lifted and placed the material for the roofing.  The front side is complete, and workers are almost done with the back.

The beams are for the walkways behind the library media/student center.  They were just installed last week.

January 7, 2015

This is only Wednesday, but I wanted to update you on some exciting things happening with the project.  Well, it's exciting for me anyway.

The landscapers came to work on the area around the Administration Building.

They planted a fern ground covering and red
hibiscus plants.  Let's hope the plants are healthy
and colorful flowers bloom!  It looks so nice to
have color and plants around the building where there was only dirt earlier.






St. Augustine grass was also planted using stolons and spraying mulch over so it can take root.

Workers softened and smoothed over the soil and brought in topsoil. They also planted a tree in the back. (I forgot to ask what kind of tree it is.)







Today, they laid out the St. Augustine stolons and then sprayed mulch over the top. They will be installing a temporary irrigation system and coming back to check to make sure the plants are taking root and are doing well.  According to the supervisor, it takes about 6-8 weeks before the whole area is covered with grass.  Until then, we'll make sure to cordon off the area.



Yesterday, we had a large concrete pour for our slab/foundation for the library media/student center. Work started when the sun was just coming up, and 12 truckloads of concrete later, the pour was completed.  This is only about half of the area for the new building; I can't wait to see it when it's finished!

Every time I see the concrete pours, I am amazed at how efficiently everything is completed. Every worker knows what they need to do, and the work is finished in a timely manner.

That might have been the biggest concrete pour since the project started - 12 truckloads!  

January 5, 2015

Oops!  I almost typed in 2014, but it's a new year already! Happy New Year to all!  I took a few days off last week and wasn't able to update you on our project.  Thank you to Cathy (our super School Administrative Services Assistant) for sending me photos last week, showing the area where Portable 9 once was located.  You may recall that workers were preparing for the transfer of P9 from Hale Kula to Fort Shafter Elementary. Well, it happened last Sunday evening near midnight.

We had heavy winds this past Friday evening, but thankfully, there seemed to be minimal damage at Hale Kula.  One of our jacaranda trees in the back of the school split, and part of it fell towards the school (but did not fall on any buildings) and the other half fell on the fence towards the gulch. Hopefully, the tree will be removed this week.

An empty space where P9 was once located.

There will be a classroom in this area for students who need more intensive services as part of their educational plan.  There will be a similar room in the new classroom building that hopefully will be ready this spring.  This one will be for younger students.

DPW workers are addressing the problem of the pooling of water in front of the school.  This area is outside the school fence line and is the responsibility of US Army Garrison Hawaii.  We appreciate their support in addressing this issue. 

Workers covered the trench, so we no longer have to walk all the way around to get from the office to buildings A, B, C, D, or E.  

The full moon was gorgeous this morning when I got to school! Let's hope that means the days this week will be beautiful so the contractors can get all their work done before students return.