This past year has been marked with some major milestones in the rehabilitation of schools - namely, the reopening of Sherman Elementary School, the creation of “innovative spaces” at seven of the district’s schools, and the department gaining City Council approval to release bond funds for construction of two new high schools.

With winter break being a natural time to do some more work on projects, Steve Gothberg, Warwick Public Schools’ Director of Capital Projects, has some work lined up both over break and heading into 2024.

One of the largest projects Capital Projects has begins in January with the renovation of Oakland Beach Elementary School.

Gothberg  expects the work at Oakland Beach, which has caused students to relocate to the Gorton Administration Building, to be wrapped up by July.

“[Starting now] gives us a full six months to get the project done,” he said.

Students are slated to return to Oakland Beach for the 2024-25 academic year.

Another elementary school to be worked on over the winter, is preliminary construction on Greenwood Elementary School’s outdoor learning space.  Over the summer, the district will install outdoor learning spaces at Cedar Hill, Greenwood, Hoxsie, Norwood, Oakland Beach, Robertson and Wyman. Gothberg said that non-disruptive work on Greenwood’s space, which will be a garden space, will continue in the spring before the bulk of the construction in the summer.

Meanwhile, at both of Warwick’s middle schools, the Department of Facilities and Operations is working on repairs to the HVAC systems. Both systems were installed five years ago, but teachers reported issues with them in October, saying that humidity levels were oppressively high and they could see mold growing in their classrooms.

Also at the middle school level, Winman will be receiving electrical parts for a generator and automatic transfer switch, which Gothberg said was planned to be finished over the summer but was held up due to supply chain issues.

Capital projects  over the past two years have totaled about $30 million, Gothberg said.

As for how things are progressing with the construction of the new high schools, Gothberg said the district is “hustling” to get work done. With the school department having to move fast to get the funding for the new high schools, Gothberg said that the next few months will include some important milestones and decisions.

“Right now, we’re in schematic design, moving well, we’re dealing with programming in the school with x square footage,” Gothberg said. “What do they need? What do they want? What can we provide? We’re adapting the new building to the site conditions, what’s the best position for the building on the site? How can we keep [Toll Gate] in proximity to the current tech building so we can make sure we use the building that we’ve sank money into over the last few years?”

As the calendar turns to 2024, Gothberg looked back on 2023 as a good year for Warwick Public Schools’ Capital Projects, and one with positive momentum for the district to build on.

“We got a lot of projects done under some difficult conditions with the supply chain, summer weather, short schedules,” Gothberg said. “I think we’ve gotten a lot of work done successfully, and given new life especially to the elementary schools, and we’re looking forward to being successful with the high school projects.”