In August of 2024, Greenwich Public Schools created a feasibility committee to meet and discuss the existing conditions at Riverside School, which was built in 1932 and had not had additional renovations done to the school since 1997.
The building is presently inappropriately sized for the present-day needs of the school. The purpose of this non-voting advisory committee is to work with an architectural design team, providing feedback in the development of the educational specifications and the supporting conceptual plans and estimate, all of which were presented to the Board of Education and approved at the February 20 Business Meeting.
The educational specifications determine what the building needs are in areas such as life safety, space, ADA adherence, and 21st century upgrades. Keep in mind, the conceptual plans may completely change before the building is actually built. The concepts just demonstrate what the spaces can fit, and what a possible arrangement of spaces may look like. This part of the process is driven heavily by staff input about the spaces as they are utilized today, and what should be addressed, lack of ADA access, or areas like a larger cafeteria or improved classroom spaces.
The next step is to formulate a building committee, created by the first selectman through an application and interview process. This committee looks for volunteers who are knowledgeable with various aspects of construction, town government, school parents, and a member from the BET and BOE. The committee is generally composed of of 5-7 voting members. GPS will share information about the application process once that is shared with us.
For more information, head to the webpage dedicated to this project.
The highly trusted global infrastructure leader, AECOM, was hired to bring in their geothermal and HVAC experts to analyze traditional and geothermal systems for Hamilton Avenue School. The study was extensive.
As requested, a high level cost estimate was conducted to compare the initial cost and the operational cost for more than a 20 year life cycle. It was determined there was very little difference in cost, but there would be a long-term positive cash flow if the district stayed with the geothermal system.
AECOM engineers were able to provide a modern geothermal solution that will be easy for the facilities team to operate and understand. This modernized design brought confidence to stay with a geothermal system, also benefitting the overall cost by reuse of the existing wells.
Next Steps: The RTM is voting on interim appropriation for the design fund on Monday, June 9. If approved, with the BET conditioning the funding, the condition must be lifted before the BOE can utilize the funds. As requested, GPS is again checking to see if any grants are available, and providing the information to the BET.
During the past 10 months, GPS hired a tax consultant to analyze if the project was eligible for an investment tax credit. Their conclusion resulted in our understanding that since the system is reusing portions of the system and installing new components, the overall system price did not meet the threshold for eligibility.
Once the condition is lifted, GPS will finish the design and then go out to bid. The project will take place during the next two years. The lead time for delivery of HVAC equipment is still slow, and much of the work must be done in the summer months. Contractors will be asked to work on a tight timeline given that the costly emergency solution must stay in place.
A copy of the entire report can be found online.
There is a need to provide reliable cellular service inside Greenwich High School. Due to the construction of the building, there is a complete lack of mobile phone service within the interior.
A funding request was made specifically to address this problem, which represents a safety issue for all staff and students that use the building. This project involves the build-out of a new interior antenna and amplification network with up-links to roof antennas providing carrier-agnostic cellular signals to mobile devices within the building.
Phase I of the project began in April 2025, during Spring Recess, with the deployment of new optical network cabling across all areas of Greenwich High School and the installation of cellular communications hardware racks in the server room. Funding for Phase II has recently been approved. The project is expected to be completed by June 2026.
The full district-wide ADA Report was completed by Silver Petrucelli + Associates and the information is being utilized to plan for the annual capital requests. The first priority is work at Western Middle School for FY26 funding of $5,800,000 to address elevator access, ADA accessible entry to the building, wayfinding signage, restrooms access, and adjustments to non-accessible classroom spaces due to the width of doors.
Read the full report online.
On a snowy day in December, Greenwich Public Schools hosted an amazing groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of the new Central Middle School construction. Attended by the entire student body, staff, and community leaders, this event commemorated the official start of shovels in the ground.
Construction has started and will continue throughout the summer. The design can be found on the building committee's extensive webpage. The new construction will be a dynamic place to enhance teaching and learning for decades to come. The project is on schedule and expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
The CMS Building Committee recently shared a list of work completed last month in the monthly Campus Connections newsletter:
- The truck route is Stanwich Road to Orchard Road, avoiding school drop-off and dismissal times (Monday-Friday) and continues to perform well
- Continuation of footing and foundation systems for the building
- Start backfill and waterproofing operations within the building footprint
- Begin footing drain installation
- Ongoing processing operations of soils
- Work anticipated this month:
- Continue installing footing and foundations systems for building structure
- Situate the underground utilities
- Continuing backfill operations
- Start erecting the steel structure of the school building
- Begin masonry for gym walls
- Construction work will also take place on Saturdays this month
Want to keep up with the project? Head to the webpage dedicated to this project and learn how it is exceeding Connecticut high performance building sustainability standards and so much more.
On a chilly day in December, Greenwich Public Schools hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of Western Middle School’s new athletics fields after an eight-year closure. There will be some minor planting per the landscape plan still happening throughout the summer of 2025, but the fields are complete and the students and staff could not be more pleased with the result.
The ceremony was attended by scores of local and regional dignitaries who braved the cold and windy conditions. The entire eighth grade class patiently waited for the festivities to conclude so they could be the first students to enjoy the field with a group sprint.
For more information, including a review of the testing and past updates, head to the webpage dedicated to this project.
The parking structure project at Hamilton Avenue School will start this summer. The perimeter caulk joints have pulled away, the concrete at the drains on the upper deck have delaminated and failed. Water pours through open joints when it rains which causes the delamination and failure of steel reinforcement to accelerate.
The construction fencing is expected to go up on or around June 20 and the campus will be closed for the summer. Summer programs will be located at other school sites.
A preliminary condition study was completed in August of 2023, including photographs and descriptions of the work required.
The project is likely to require two summers to reach total completion.
The Julian Curtiss School's renovation of the severely undersized cafeteria to provide a larger space is now in Phase III, including upgraded equipment and millwork. This cafeteria has been identified as the smallest in the district.
The design work will be finalized and prepared during the school year with the hopes of construction beginning in the summer of 2026.
The building also does not have an elevator and access to the second floor is extremely difficult for students and staff that cannot climb steps. Work to add an elevator will be on-going this summer. The school is currently working to cut the floor for the elevator shaft as well as excavation for the pit.
The building is closed for GPS programs this summer and programs are relocated.
For more information, head to the Julian Curtiss Building Committee's webpage.
An initial drain issue with the Greenwich High School swimming pool required an emergency shut-off valve being installed. Once the pool was empty and the work began, there were noticeable deficiencies with the pool. A contractor was hired to analyze the challenges, and the report was much more impactful than anticipated with code challenges, a pool which drains inappropriately into the adjacent creek instead of the local sewer line, a diving area which does not meet compliance for safety in proximity to a major steel beam, lack of ADA access, and more.
As a result, a feasibility committee was formulated to analyze the known challenges and how best to move forward with a 50-year-old pool needing significant work.
Our aquatics programs are the most successful in the state. The boys' swimming team has won the
CIAC State Open Championships for the 11th consecutive season, and 39th time overall. The girls' team took home the CIAC Class LL Girls Swimming Championships for the 31st time in team history.
The feasibility committee is currently conducting community focus groups with our GPS coaching staff, parents of aquatics program students, student-athletes, and user groups across Greenwich who utilize the pool throughout the year.
The feasibility committee is composed of parents of aquatics athletes, the coaching staff from each program, BET, BOE, and GPS facilities and leadership. Early next fall, the educational specifications will be presented to the Board of Education for feedback and approval to inform the GPS capital plan going forward.
For more information, head to the feasibility committee website.
Members of the Board of Education, Greenwich Public Schools senior administration, and the Old Greenwich School Building Committee were on hand to celebrate the much anticipated official start of Old Greenwich School's renovation at a groundbreaking ceremony in April.
The amazing work will transform a beloved neighborhood school building to meet all ADA compliance laws and safety standards, address sewer and drainage issues, build a new kindergarten addition, and install a new building-wide HVAC system. Once completed, Old Greenwich School will continue to have its historic appearance and local charm.
The project is out to bid, with responses being analyzed during the month of June. Planned work for the summer of 2025 includes a new playground and removing the existing playground to make room for the building extension. Once contractors are selected through the competitive bid process, OG will begin a phased renovation and expansion with an anticipated timeline for completion of January 2028.
North Street School houses several of our programs that provide services for children with mobility, vision, and other disabilities. It is imperative that the playground be updated for ADA access, and as part of the ADA implementation plan for playgrounds across GPS. The work will take place at North Street this summer and be ready in early fall.
The color renderings shown is the playscape that will replace the large existing system. The colors in the renderings may not reflect what was selected by the school.
Also included in the project is poured-in-place rubber ground covering at the new playscape as well as at the existing swing area and at the playscape that had been most recently replaced.
