September 20, 2015

It was a bit noisy this past week with work being done on the metal pan decks on the roof. The sound of pounding and sawing were somewhat distracting, but the work was necessary. The recent bad weather delayed the project a bit, so workers were trying to catch up. Now that the metal pan decks are just about done, the noise should decrease.

This week, some new furniture arrived for the learning hub. These are funky-shaped tables that can be configured in different ways depending on the activity and the number of students in the group. Students can use dry erase markers on the table tops to sketch out ideas, practice their skills, or to outline their ideas. I think we'll find many more uses for those tables!

On Thursday, about a dozen retired Hale Kula staff came on a tour of the school. One of them had seen the blog about the opening of the classroom building and asked if a group could come to visit. It was wonderful to see them; some went on to become administrators and others stayed in the classroom and retired after many years of service. I understand there is a group of retirees from our school who gets together regularly to have lunch and enjoy each other's company. I think that demonstrates the feeling at our school where everyone is part of our Hale Kula `ohana. It was great seeing all of them!

Students were using the new desks in the learning hub of the new classroom building.

The tour group of former Hale Kula staff and the "tour guides"

Most of the metal pan decks are in place for the roof of the library media/student center. Now, workers will begin to place the insulation sheets on top of the metal pan deck.

September 11, 2015

Well, this turned out to be another week with pretty rainy weather. Because Monday was a holiday, we already had one day less for the contractors to work. They did the best they could, but we certainly wish that this humid, rainy weather will pass by next week.

Workers continue working on the inside of the library media/student center, and we haven't been able to check out the interior due to the wet conditions, making it unsafe for us. The special education classroom is looking good, and the windows were installed this week.  Workers poured concrete in the covered play court on Tuesday; I'm not sure if they were pouring the columns or some other part of the building.

Not too many photos this week; hopefully, we'll be able to take more next week.

Concrete-pouring on Tuesday - thank goodness the morning was beautiful!

This is what the new special education classroom looked like on Tuesday . . . 

. . . and on Thursday, the windows were in place on the back of the classroom.

Work continues on the covered play court.  I was speaking with Mr. Bevacqua, the PE teacher, and we both agreed that this would be such a wonderful place for the whole school to assemble.  We can't wait for this building to be finished!

September 6, 2015

This week was a little better than last week for our construction crew. It's true that we were still under hurricane watch, but for the most part, the workers were able to make progress prior to any rains in the afternoon. Let's hope the weather improves so we can catch up on the lost days due to the torrential rains that made work impossible.

The view of the Student Center side of the building from the second floor of the classroom building - work continues on the interior.

The roof of the special education classroom is done, and work continues on the inside.  We would love for that room to be ready by the second quarter; we are keeping our fingers crossed.

The view of the covered play court from J-building

. . . the view from the side facing the cafeteria

. . . and the side facing Waianae Avenue
It is still hard to visualize what the building will look like once it's completed, but I can say that it will be wonderful to have a place for PE and for assemblies and not worry about the rain.

The landscapers had their work cut out for them; the heavy rains caused the weeds to grow!

After a lot of pulling out weeds, weed-whacking, and lawn mowing, the grass looked much better!  We are all waiting for the grass to grow out so students have another place to play at recess time.

One last photo that was sent to me by a parent this morning. Yes, those are pigs on our campus. We chased them away a few weeks ago, but they were back this morning.  I guess we'll have to assess the damage when we go back to school on Tuesday.  Hopefully, they'll be gone by then. I'm not sure what the Army can do to get rid of those pigs since they appear to be living in the gulch.  Any ideas?

August 29, 2015

This was a dreary week, and not much work could get accomplished with the heavy rains we had. Workers tried . . . some days this week, the weather started off beautifully and by noon, the downpours started. It's been a rough hurricane season; we dodged the first two, but it looks like we're not going to get a pass this year.

So much rain!! 

The area between the cafeteria and building I was flooding!

It looked promising on the day I took this photo, but by the afternoon, we had a downpour again.  Notice that the grass in front of the new classroom building is starting to grow. The problem is that with these heavy rains, the weeds are growing profusely as well! The landscapers have lots of work to do when they return, hopefully on Monday.

The garden between A and B building was also flooded by the heavy rains.  Mr. Gomez planted some seeds in his planters on Friday.  Let's hope they are able to germinate and grow!

August 14, 2015

Last Thursday, the huge crane was parked at Hale Kula, lifting and placing the steel plates for the roof of the library media/student center. I am always amazed with the precision of the crane operator and the teamwork involved in placing those plates. I watch the workers measuring to be sure they have the right piece before securing that piece to be lifted into place.  By Tuesday, the crane was gone from Hale Kula to do its magic at another construction site.

As I walked to the back of the campus, I was amazed at how much progress has been made on  the covered play court!  Additionally, it looks like workers are prepared to work on the roof of the special education classroom. With Tropical Storm Hilda no longer an issue, we hope work will continue at a steady pace!

The crane hoisting up one of the steel plates.

Most of the steel bars for the roof are in place.

Earlier, the construction zone was stacked with piles of the steel bars.  Now the area looks empty! 

This is the special education classroom at the end of J-building.  It looks like they're ready to work on the roof.  We hope the room is ready by the start of the second quarter.

A lot of work has been completed this week on the covered play court!

I hadn't realized that workers had started working on the CMU walls.

Roofers are completing the walkway roofs.  They should be completed with the classroom roofs soon.  Notice the new building on the left.  

I went outside to the back of the school to take this photo of the CMU walls of the play court.  When it is finished, the covered play court will provide us with a venue to have school-wide assemblies, rain or shine!

August 8, 2015

Tropical Storm Guillermo fortunately changed course so we did not get the heavy winds and rains that were predicted so we continue to see progress on the construction project.

I made it a point to take a few photos this week.

Painters started with the primer on the exterior of the library media/student center.

The first part of the concrete posts for the covered play court is done.  They're working on the posts for the other side of the court.  This is just the first phase; the actual building is much higher so the posts are built in stages.

We had an opportunity to check on the progress of the new building.  We actually got to go upstairs to take a look.  This is taken from the second floor of the Student Center that is facing the new classroom building.

There will be high ceilings on the second floor.

This wall is the dividing area between the Media Center and the Student Center.

The view from the second floor on the opposite side of the building.  This is from the Media Center area on the second floor.  

This is taken from the second floor overlooking the library. 

There will be windows on the second floor of the Media Center so we can observe what's going on in the library area. 

The rooftops of the buildings that are being renovated are so clean and white! In the background, you can see work on the covered play court.

The grass in the front of the classroom building is starting to grow! We're hoping it comes up faster than the grass by the Administration Building.

August 2, 2015

The Blessing and Open House event marked the official completion of Phase II of our $33.2 million construction project.  Now, workers are concentrating on the final phase of the project - the library media/student center and the covered play court. Prior to those projects being completed, the special education classroom should be done.  The hope was that this classroom would be finished in time to start the new school year, but there were a few delays.  We are optimistic that the project will be completed soon.

Sharing some photos from last week:

The special education classroom for K-2 students should be completed hopefully in time for the start of the second quarter.

I am not sure but I think some of the concrete was poured for those columns for the covered play court.  

Students and parents were anxiously waiting for the new classroom building doors to be opened on Wednesday, the first day of school.

Fourth graders are the first to use the basketball court; the court was unavailable because it was a construction staging area. We just have to be careful about not stepping on the newly-planted grass.