The start of the school year is just around the corner.
Teachers are organizing their classrooms, maintenance is finishing up summer projects, custodians are shining the floors and students are rounding up their school supplies.
It’s a busy time of year, but the lead-up to the first day of school Sept. 4 is looking a little busier than normal at Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools.
For the next two weeks, crews at James Blair Middle School on Ironbound Road will wrap up various projects, from stormwater drainage systems and flooring to painting and more.
The new building, which is a $28 million project and modeled after Colonel Smith Middle School in Arizona, includes Ident-A-Kid secure check-in kiosks for visitors, an “auditeria” cafeteria-auditorium combination, and a set of stairs where students can gather and sit.
Each grade will also be housed in collaborative learning “pods,” which include movable walls between classrooms and collaborative space for groups to work together.
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The school is expected to open on time, with teachers moving into the building Monday and students starting classes Sept. 4, school division spokeswoman Eileen Cox said Thursday.
Some projects will not be fully complete, such as sports fields, when school starts Sept. 4, but the school will have a temporary certificate of occupancy for its soft completion, Senior Director of Operations Marcellus Snipes said.
The final completion will be within 30 days of the temporary certificate.
About 535 students ranging from sixth to eighth grade will attending the new school this year, Snipes said. The school’s capacity is 600 students, with room for an additional 300 if expanded.
The plan for expansion has already been designed, if the school board determines there is a need for it, Cox said.
Construction wraps up at the new James Blair Middle School Aug. 23, 2018. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)
