MANCHESTER, Conn.—Steps have been taken to replace a damaged roof at Manchester High School in Manchester, Conn. that has fallen into disrepair over the past five years.

The Manchester School District Board of Directors unanimously voted to appropriate $589,000 in unused previously bonded money for the roof replacement. Further, the Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools are applying for a construction grant from the State Department of Education that could offer reimbursement for the project.

Although a section of Manchester High School’s roof was built in 2006, an older section of the roof was completed in 1981. This older section has been leaking for years. As a result, approximately 22,000 square feet of the low slope roof area requires replacement. This section stretches over the original high school building including the auditorium classrooms and common areas.

During the January Board of Directors meeting, Town of Manchester General Manager Scoot Shanley explained that the roof replacement will allow the town to also install solar panels on the school, which is part of the town’s ongoing effort to have solar power atop several public buildings in town.

The architectural firm Silver Petrucelli + Associates has been chosen to design the project. Construction documents expected to be completed by March.

After plans are completed, they will be submitted to the Board of Education for approval. Construction is slated to begin this summer.

Manchester—with a population of approximately 58,000—is located 54 miles northeast of Bridgeport, the state’s largest city.

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GLASTONBURY, Conn. – This spring, the renovation and addition to the 1906 Kent School Admissions Building marked the 17^th shovel in the ground for the SLAM Collaborative design and construction team on the Kent School campus, a private, co-educational preparatory located in bucolic north western Connecticut.

As part of this renovation project, the SLAM team has updated the front façade to replicate the original front entrance.

With a completion date slated for this fall, the renovation of the existing structure and excavation for the new addition began in March before the implications of the COVID-19 regulations were fully initiated. The SLAM Construction Services (SLAM CS) team has worked with the school to make the construction site safe for students, staff and subcontractors. The cost of this project is not being disclosed at this time.

This project has been selected by The Hartford Insurance Company as a pilot for Triax Technologies’ new Spot-r safety program that electronically monitors every individual on the construction site. The software allows the on-site superintendent to monitor location, falls and equipment use. In addition to this risk mitigating tool, SLAM CS has implemented all required construction site health precautions as per CDC guidelines.

The renovation to the original 2,500-square foot Admissions Building includes new windows, siding, roof, insulation, interior finishes, and sprinklers. The renovated space will feature a welcoming new waiting area with fireplace, a large new conference room, a new multi-level open stairway and elevator connecting to the new addition and upper floors.

The new 2,500-square foot two-story addition connects to the existing building with an elegant porch and patio, reflective of the school’s period architectural style. This entry level ties the two structures together and blends into the hillside and surrounding campus. The new addition will include admissions department offices and interview rooms, a small event space doubling as a conference room and a large interview room to support the growing demands of the department.

When the school was founded 114 years ago, the current Admissions Building, referred to as “Old Main,” was the original farmhouse on the property.”  At that time, it was home to the entire school of six students.

Over the years the house has undergone a series of evolutions. Originally it formed the core of a wood framed, white clapboard campus complex that was subsequently replaced by the brick Georgian campus, initiated in the 1920s and continuing to the present day.

In 1960, the building was moved down the hill to its current location near the main entrance to the campus. Due to complications with the move, the building was placed with the original front door facing the rear of the site.

The SLAM Collaborative is a national, multi-disciplinary design firm offering architecture, planning, interior design, landscape architecture, site planning and structural engineering services. In addition, S/L/A/M Construction Services offers pre-construction, design build and construction management throughout the New England region. Its focus is on higher education, K-12 public/private education and other sectors.

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GROTON, Conn. — A recent groundbreaking celebration for the new $66 million Groton Middle School was attended by state and local officials, school administrators, teachers, project leaders, and community members in Groton on April 23, 2019.

Constructed by O&G Industries (O&G),and designed by the S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM). the estimated completion date for the 155,000 square foot project is summer 2020.

O&G, which is headquartered in Torrington, Conn., is a general contractor, construction manager, design/builder and specialty subcontractor with nearly 100 years of experience in commercial building, power plant, road and bridge and site construction. The company serves clients in educational, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, transportation, power and municipal markets throughout the U.S.

SLAM is a national, fully-integrated, multi-disciplinary architecture firm offering architecture, planning, interior design, landscape architecture and site planning, structural engineering and construction services that focuses on higher education, K-12 public/private education, healthcare and corporate market sectors. SLAM has offices Glastonbury, Conn., as well as in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, and Syracuse.

SLAM has completed programming, design, documentation, interior design, structural engineering, and cost estimating services for the school. Consulting Engineering Services, Inc. will provide mechanical, electrical and plumbing services, while Milone & MacBroom will provide site design and engineering. Guillen Technology Consultants (GTC) will provide AV/IT and security.

The new school launches the first of three projects in the Groton 2020 School Improvement Plan that will consolidate the middle school level, permitting the two existing middle schools to be repurposed as elementary schools.

Construction of Groton Middle School began in April on vacant land immediately north of the existing Fitch High School, forming a middle/high school campus.

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MANCHESTER, Conn. – Waddell School opened its doors to 530 students in kindergarten through fourth grade after completing a year-long $33.6 million renovation as part of a districtwide renovation and modernization plan called SMARTR.

The 20,000-square-foot enlargement includes designated STEM learning spaces, art and music rooms, expanded common areas, and indoor and outdoor eating areas. The classrooms are all supplied with interactive technology and boast brightly painted walls with large windows installed to produce natural daylight.

The most notable feature included in the renovation is a $20,000 slide located in the center of the lobby connecting the first and second floor – the center of a debate regarding safety, cost and the overall necessity of the unique design element.

Stuart Wolf, the principal of Waddell School, however said that the slide represents the way they want students to think of the school, according to a local report from NBC Connecticut.

“Learning is fun. Learning is exciting. School is exciting. I want to look forward to going to school every day,” Wolf said.

According to the Hartford Courant, Jim Farrell, the school district spokesman, said that some of the teachers plan to use the slide as a part of the student’s transportation from one place to another — allowing kids to drop from the second-floor art room to the cafeteria on the first floor.

The Waddell School building is the first of the district’s elementary schools to be completed under SMARTR. The $84 million school project also includes adding fifth grade to Bennet Academy and the current revamp and expansion of Verplanck Elementary School, which is expected for completion by the 2019-20 school year. The project hopes to update schools in the region to a 21^st century learning environment.

The school was designed by TSKP Studio of Hartford, Conn. Students began classes on September 4^th.

Reports by NBC Connecticut and the Hartford Courant contributed to this story.

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STORRS, Conn. – Governor Dannel P. Malloy, UConn President Susan Herbst, students and researchers gathered recently to celebrate the opening of UConn’s new, state-of-the-art, five-story Science and Engineering building.

Designed by New York City-based Mitchell Giurgola Architects, the $95 million building is a part of UConn’s efforts to expand STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) academia.

The design team worked together to build flexible, highly efficient, generically planned, open labs tailored to multiple science and engineering disciplines.

The facility offers roughly 118,000 square feet of laboratories, with open lab spaces at the perimeter with interior support space, offices and public spaces at the ends of the building, and expression of these elements on the façade with glass curtainwall as well as expression of “servant” spaces such as stairs and penthouses with tile panels.

The School of Engineering designated three floors for housing programs such as robotics, advanced manufacturing that includes, various rugged industrial keyboards in an integrated computing system, cyber physics, virtual and augmented reality, mechatronics, and other fields. The Institute for Systems Genomics consists of two floors, including its Center for Genome Innovation, microbial analysis and resource service, and other programs.

While working on a very constrained site, as well as fielding concerns from some of the faculty regarding the open plan labs, the team was able to proceed and overcome these challenges with careful planning and discussion.

According to Mitchell Giurgola Partner James R. Braddock, AIA, UConn’s new science facility is, to the best of his knowledge, the first example of an open plan engineering lab.

“We have done numerous open plan science labs, but this is our first open plan engineering research lab, where numerous groups do individual projects such as using grinding machines, in a common space,” said Braddock. “We believe this fosters interaction and collaboration among groups and will have a positive effect on research outcomes. It also facilitates changes in space need among groups as research projects begin and end, optimizing space utilization.”

According to Braddock, actual researchers were not chosen until late in the process, but ”proxy” committees were constituted for each of the program groups, and numerous meetings were held with each committee to gain input on the design as it progressed.

Gov. Malloy stated on Twitter that this new building will help drive new innovations in a range of scientific disciplines, expressing the pride of another milestone in the Next Generation Connecticut Initiative, aiding the state’s goal of expanding STEM to promote economic growth.

“This building is the culmination of significant investment by the state of Connecticut in the field of STEM, and in the future of engineering,” Kazem Kazerounian, dean of the School of Engineering said in a statement posted to the school’s website. “Nearly 40 percent of our state’s economy is generated by engineering-related industries, and with our 70 percent increase in engineering enrollment, and significant investment in resources, UConn is providing research, talent, and technology that will pay dividends for decades to come.”

The new UConn building was designed to achieve LEED Silver Certification and to fulfill Connecticut High-Performance Building Standards. It was built by Fusco Corp. of New Haven, Conn., with construction beginning in 2015 and finishing this spring.

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HARTFORD, Conn. — On Feb. 2, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced a new third round of grants approved under the state’s School Security Grant Program to be dispersed to school districts across the state. The grants continue as an effort to enhance school safety and security measures while initial funds spread slim throughout Connecticut schools. The state of Connecticut will receive $10 million to improve security infrastructure at 182 public and private schools in 51 towns and cities across the state.

“Improving school safety is an ongoing effort, one that requires continued commitment and collaboration between all levels of government and our educators,” Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said in a statement. “These funds will help Connecticut communities keep students and teachers safe, strengthen our schools, and improve response in the event of a crisis.”

Following the Sandy Hook tragedy, the state of Connecticut responded by earmarking millions for funding and implementing school safety laws to be followed by school districts across the state. The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) administers a School Security Grant Program, established in 2013 as part of a broad legislative package signed into law by the governor focusing on gun violence prevention, mental health and school security issues, according to the government’s website.

When the law was passed, the state set aside $42 million for a security fund, with grants awarded in 2013 and 2014. The grants function by requiring towns to pay a percentage of the total cost of the project, which is determined by the wealth of the community. The law was changed in 2014 to allow private schools access to 10 percent of the grant money. Since adopting this program, the state has made available $53 million to more than 1,200 schools.

With these funds, the schools have begun addressing concerns of how school buildings are accessed, and how to prevent communication failures and coordination breaches between multiple agencies. School districts have also taken preemptive measures by using the funds to add more cameras, install security buzzer systems, laminate all first-story windows and implement key card systems.

One of the laws enacts requirements for schools to put forward a School Security and Safety Plan, a 30-page text developed by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, at the start of the new school year. Another law required that all districts submit records of all fire drills and crisis management drills by July 1, 2017.

Alas, last July, a mere 52 school districts submitted their records; that’s approximately 25 percent of all school districts in Connecticut. Nearly 100 school districts had not submitted their school and security safety plan as of the 2017 deadline, while almost 70 school districts haven’t submitted a plan in at least two years since 2017, according to the Hartford Courant. This has led to state officials contemplating new penalty laws for schools who do not meet the requirements for safety protocols.

Rep. Andrew Fleishmann, chairman of the legislature’s education committee, told the Hartford Courant that introducing a bill next session that penalizes leaders of school districts or the districts themselves would get the attention of everyone who isn’t complying with the law.

Although a work in progress, the state’s new funds will continue to address school safety concerns and strengthen preventative measures in the hopes to eventually restore a peace of mind to students, staff and parents alike.

“Improving school safety is an ongoing effort, one that requires continued commitment and collaboration between all levels of government and our educators,” Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said in a statement. “These funds will help Connecticut communities keep students and teachers safe, strengthen our schools and improve response in the event of a crisis.”

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Created by a long roster of the state’s various Hartford-based departments (the Connecticut Departments of Education, Energy and Environmental Protection, Administrative Services and Public Health among them), Connecticut Green LEAF helps schools to grow greener. Of course, a state agency can’t forgo any opportunity for a cute acronym — hence, LEAF stands for “Leading, Educating, Achieving and Fostering green, healthy schools for all.” The program also works with more than 35 environmental and educational partners focused on three principal goals: to provide effective environmental and sustainability education, improve the health and wellness of students and staff, and reduce environmental impact and cost.

“Implementation starts with a letter of commitment from the school administration. The school then can complete a self-assessment of their ‘green’ activities and goals. Schools receive support in meeting their goals, including webinars, lessons and professional development,” reported the Orange Town News, a news service that serves the community of the Amity Regional School District No. 5 where three schools have already signed up for the program.

Other districts that have joined include West Hartford, Stamford, Guilford, Wolcott, Windsor Locks, Wilton and Westport, representing a total of 130 participating schools.

Schools that participate in the program can be eligible for nomination for the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon honor. At present writing, 13 schools and one district across Connecticut have earned the federal Green Ribbon recognition, though all participating schools are recognized for their accomplishments.

As explained on the Eastern Connecticut State University Institute for Sustainable Energy site, “This recognition award is part of a larger U.S. Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about practices proven to result in improved student engagement, academic achievement, graduation rates and workforce preparedness as well as a government-wide aim to increase energy independence and economic security.”

Open to both public and private schools, Connecticut Green LEAF Schools is free and available for all K-12 learning institutions. For more information, visit www.ctgreenleaf.org.

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