Elementary School Updates

 

Pleasant Garden Elementary

The new classroom and kitchen and dining wing at Pleasant Garden Elementary is now complete, and students are making use of the six new classrooms, resource room and dining room. Teachers are benefitting from the new teacher work area included in the project. With the new project complete, the district has started a project to re-purpose the former dining room and kitchen. Gutting the building will give Pleasant Garden Elementary four new classrooms – an art room, computer lab and two additional classrooms in January.

Union Hill Elementary

Construction is in full swing on the replacement for Union Hill. On schedule to open in the fall of 2009, masonry work is underway on the school’s three classroom wings. Workers are installing wire mesh and vapor barriers in the administration area, media center and multi-purpose room in order to pour the concrete slab.

Middle School Updates

Jamestown Middle

Crews are clearing the site that will be home to the new Jamestown Middle. As crews grade the site, storm water control and erosion devices are being installed. Working towards a fall 2010 opening date, final permit contract documents have been submitted for review and approval.

 

 

High School School Updates

 

Eastern High

The final phases are underway at Eastern High. Crews are putting up sheet rock, ceiling grid and lights. With sidewalks being poured and the curb and gutters in place, the entrance to the school is nearly complete as final grading continues. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors are on schedule, and students will occupy the new school the Monday following spring break. The replacement school is a prototype of Northern High, and it features many of the same sustainable building features, like a rainwater catchment system.

Dean B. Pruette SCALE School

GCS administrators, who formerly called the English Road facility home, vacated the building in order to make room for the Dean B. Pruette SCALE School. The facility needed a number of upgrades. New air conditioning, an elevator and new finishes throughout make the building a great learning atmosphere for students. The interior of the building was completely gutted and new HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire sprinkler and technology systems were installed. The building was also re-configured for classrooms, with new interior wall partitions in place and drywall added. An elevator is being installed along with a new kitchen and dining room. The final project, which is 85 percent complete and expected to be open in January 2009, will feature a media center/computer room and exercise room as well.

 

Meet Julius Monk, Director of Construction

 

“Building Futures” is not just a motto. It's also a lifestyle for Julius Monk, director of construction for Guilford County Schools (GCS).  Monk is one important human building block of building futures for the children of GCS.

Monk’s responsibilities vary from day-to-day and range from researching changing cost trends of materials to actually going on-site to monitor progress of various projects around the district. Monk stresses, “I have to know the needs of each special student.”

A lot of work goes into constructing a school. Monk searches out local contractors that show the community’s diversity.  He make sure that the buildings meet state regulations, oversees the finances, carefully constructs 3-D models to depict the correct design and identifies possible barriers of each project. Monk also keeps designers on task with permits, ensures information about each building is accessible to emergency personnel and maintenance, keeps constituents abreast of the progress of each unique project and oversees the careful use of taxpayer’s dollars.    

“I’m a whole lot busier,” says Monk when he refers to his job after the passing of the 2008 School Bond. Monk works with Donna Bell, director of facilities and planning, Noah Tiluk, the district’s demographer, Andy LaRowe, executive director of facilities and construction management, Leo Bobadilla, chief operation officer, and many others to achieve the common goal of successfully building futures. Monk insists that building futures is not just a goal for the educators of Guilford County, but for him and his colleagues as well. The success of each building constructed needs each of them to work together cohesively.

 

Monk commutes miles every day to work in Guilford County, which clearly shows commitment and enjoyment of his job. Monk proclaims, “You couldn’t find a better group of people to work with.” Monk enjoys his job as a whole, but he loves going out to the sites and seeing the kids. Monk says, “I want to show the children that all the math, science and the other subjects that they are learning are not useless, but are used to construct the very building that they are being educated in.”

Monk believes that the work he does directly benefits how GCS students learn: “It is important to look beyond the bricks—to what is going to benefit and raise the test scores of the children of GCS.”  

 

In compliance with federal laws, Guilford County Schools administers all educational programs, employment activities and admissions without discrimination because of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, color, age, military service, disability or gender, except where exemption is appropriate and allowed by law. Refer to the Board of Education's Discrimination Free Environment Policy AC for a complete statement. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the Guilford County Schools Compliance Officer, 120 Franklin Boulevard, Greensboro, NC 27401; 336.370.2323.