Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Edwin Dickerson, a carpenter working at Blue Hills School, demolishes an area which will become a new entryway.

Blue Hills prepares to open as modernization continues

Some construction to go on hold until next summer

By Michelle Alaimo

Blue Hills Elementary School is well into its "modernization" construction project and will be ready to open Aug. 27 for the new school year.

"All the people involved with the modernization are working diligently to make sure that school will be open and ready for the students," new Principal Randy Karel said.

In the process of getting the school ready, crews are working to ensure the children are safe from any construction hazards, school officials told the Saratoga News.

"Anything to do with construction will be sealed off from the kids," said Jerd Ferraiuolo, director of facility modernization for Cupertino Union School District.

The modernization began earlier this summer and was divided into two phases, Ferraiuolo said. In the first phase, half of the school received new carpet, power supplies and paint. The other half of the school will be finished next summer after school is out.

Construction crews are also building a 1,000-square-foot technology lab to house some 30 computers. A 1,000-square-foot constructional lab is being built for art, science and cooking projects. The library was renovated, and a music and physical education room is being built to replace a temporary module currently used for the classes, Ferraiuolo said. All of these projects are expected to be finished next summer.

The only construction that will continue until December is on a new office and reception area. Ferraiuolo said the current office is like a "cracker box." The larger office is needed because the school was having a hard time adding computer and newer technology capabilities, Ferraiuolo said.

The modernization of Blue Hills Elementary School is the final phase of a Cupertino Union School District modernization project which began in 1990, Ferraiuolo said. The school is in the process of upgrading all schools in its district, and Blue Hills was scheduled for the final phase because the school was in generally good shape, Ferraiuolo said. Once construction on Blue Hills is completed next summer, all its classrooms will have the ability to handle computers, the Internet and cable television.

Though the school is in the Cupertino Union School District, almost all of its students reside in Saratoga.

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