WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Reading, writing, 'rithetic and ... redecorating.

 

Add another line to the resume for the staff at Mount Greylock Regional School, which helped kickstart the junior-senior high school's renovation and addition project this summer.

 

"I have to commend Jesse [Wirtes] and Larry Burdick, the head custodian, and all the custodians," Mount Greylock Principal Mary MacDonald said last week while giving a tour of the sometimes torn up interior at Mount Greylock. "Larry had a one-month crew, actually it was faculty and staff who wanted some work. They cleaned this room. They got things moved.

 

"We were ahead of schedule, so when Turner [Construction] came in, we were ready to go."

 

MacDonald made those comments while showing the temporary faculty dining room, which is repurposed space that used to be part of the school's library.

 

Mount Greylock's librarian was able to reorganize and weed out some of the school's collection to clear the room, which is located across the hall from the main cafeteria.

 

The former faculty lunchroom is now the school's band room because the old band room is part of the school's central core that is being gutted as part of a major renovation.

 

It is all part of an elaborate reshuffling of spaces to clear out the school's central core and make room for "Phase 1" of the renovation, which began in earnest shortly after exams ended in June.

 

Evidence of site prep is apparent inside and out at the Mount Greylock campus, which will be under construction into the spring of 2018, when classes are expected to move into a new three-story academic wing.

 

That wing is replacing inefficient, outdated but copious space that will be razed at the end of the project.

 

The advantage of having an oversized building is that Mount Greylock has the square footage to play hopscotch with its classrooms and offices to make way for the renovation and rebuilding of the central core — chiefly a renovated auditorium and gymnasium and new cafeteria and media center (aka library).

 

"One of the exciting parts of this plan is that in the transition, we can still keep our programs," MacDonald said.

 

The school's stained glass room, for example, has been relocated to the rear of the original, 1960 academic wing.

 

All the moving around has required some sacrifices.

 

"This is a room that used to be the space of [science teacher and coach] Scott Burdick," MacDonald said, indicating one of the repurposed spaces. "He was a storer. This will be an art space, for stained glass and the kiln, which has to be vented out.

 

"[Burdick] had tons of stuff in here, but it was stuff he could get rid of. He had his cross country stuff here with trophies going back to 1975."

 

Teachers throughout the building have done a good job cleaning out things that they don't need and getting ready for the impending move, MacDonald said.

 

Fortunately, most of the faculty have not had to move at all. Even better, the renovation plan was implemented to ensure that those who are moving will do so just once.

 

"Part of the reason for the careful review of this phasing plan was so teachers wouldn't have to move twice," MacDonald said.

 

And everything that has to move pretty much is in place and waiting for the start of school next month.

 

Perhaps as importantly, Mount Greylock was ready and waiting for the start of demolition and renovation when the contractors arrived earlier this summer.

 

"From an owner's project management standpoint, I've seen a lot of people try to go through this process, and you were one of the better ones that we've seen," Trip Elmore of Newburyport's Dore and Whittier Management Partners told the School Building Committee last week.

 

"Congratulations to the staff."