• *New Pictures - August 2008
• February 2008
• September 28, 2007
• September 24, 2007 - *New Pictures
• April 2007
• September 22, 2006 Update
• September 15, 2006 Update
• August 15, 2006 Update
• February 14, 2006 Update
• Winter 2005
  
  *The Office of Design & Construction Services will also be posting periodic progress photos of the Woodson renovation project, to access photos, click here.

September 28, 2007

Catherine Potter, Woodson's PTSA President , wrote an informative article regarding Woodson's renovation in the August issue of The Cavalier Chronicles. To access the article, click here

September 24, 2007

New pictures have been posted displaying many of the exciting changes happening at Woodson during Renovation. To access these pictures, click here.
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As we approach the second grading period, you will note several changes related to the renovation. The first is that the contractors will start installing light poles in the lower parking lot. This will take away about 30 spaces. To compensate for this, the contractor will create 30 gravel spaces inside the stadium along the asphalt walkway. These spaces are actually closer to the building than many of the spaces we lose. There is a paved walkway from this area to the building alongside the new tennis courts. This will happen on or about October 1.

A more significant change will happen in November, possibly as soon as the start of the second grading period. We will move our science classes, deaf/hard of hearing classes, and selected English classes to newly built or newly renovated areas. We will also shift about 60 faculty spaces from the Whitacre Road side of the campus to the gymnasium side. This will allow us to move student parking further up the hill closer to the building. We will publish more details in October through the “Let’s Keep in Touch” e-mail service. As a result, I encourage you to sign up for this service if you have not already done so. Once these moves are done, the contractors will start working on upper and lower “B” Hall, and the North section of upper and lower “A” Halls.

April 2006

Parking changes effective April 9, 2007. To access information regarding these changes, click here.

September 22, 2006

The next stage of work is about to begin. The most tangible changes will be the removal of ceiling tiles in corridors throughout most of the building and noises from the D & L Halls (at night) as chalkboards, ceiling fixtures, etc., are removed as part of the demolition phase. This may happen as soon as the weekend of the 23rd-24th. There will also be some heavy machinery doing the site preparation work in the rear of the building near the ends of the A and C halls in preparation for the new science/lecture hall wing.

Feel free to contact our FCPS site liaison at Robert.Robyak @fcps.edu with any questions. Bob will be here at Back to School Night Activities Fair and also at the October 3 faculty meeting with a display.

September 15, 2006

Information on the rebidding process
from Dean Tistadt, FCPS Chief Operating Officer.

FCPS reports that the bidding process is going well and has issued approximately 16 bid packages to subcontractors. The school system has received acceptable bids for about 14 of these packages and hopes to be able to recommend award to the School Board at the September 19 meeting. As a result, the project is expected to start by the end of September/beginning of October.

August 15, 2006

Information on the rebidding process
from Dean Tistadt, FCPS Chief Operating Officer.

A great deal of work has been underway in preparation for bidding the Woodson renovation with the school system acting as the prime contractor. The architect has been working on re-packaging the bid into about 16 separate bids for the various trades such as mechanical, electrical, plumbing, etc. Certain changes have been made to specifications to save money. None of these changes, however, will have an impact upon instructional or athletic programs at the school. We anticipate that the bid packages will be ready and will begin to be issued next week. Our current plan is to receive the bids in early September so that School Board action can be scheduled at its meeting in late September. At the same time, with the assistance of Hunton and Williams, we wrote to the State Tax Commissioner to confirm our ability to purchase materials exempt from the State sales tax. We received a favorable ruling within a week which is fantastic. We estimate that this will save the project over $1 million. Design and Construction has identified the individuals who will act as construction managers for this project and they are outstanding employees with great experience with major projects of this nature. Project schedules have been developed to ensure we can monitor the progress and success of the renovation. Work is being done at Woodson, to include placing trailers, to begin the school year with the students in areas where they will need to be when the renovation actually begins. In this manner, we will not have to disrupt and move faculty and students a few weeks into the school year. Thanks to a lot of hard work by a great many individuals, we are on track for launching the renovation by early October.

Additional Information
As mentioned above, the county is completing the process of setting up trailers in front of the building and we have begun to move furniture into most of the classrooms and expect to have permit approval to occupy the remaining spaces shortly. Trailers currently in the side parking lot adjacent to Whitacre will be moved to the construction staging/headquarters site. It is expected that this will occur prior to the start of band camp next week. The county is also setting up a staging area on the athletic field immediately south of the DIT/V Wing, adjacent to the parking lot. (This is often called our "west field.") While we lose this field for the three years of the renovation, this location allows the construction teams a single location without the need to relocate periodically and move supplies through areas occupied by students. It also facilitates building the new tennis courts in time for the spring 2007 season.

Possibly before the start of the school year, the county will probably commence the next stage of site work. This will involve removing ceiling tiles from hallways throughout the campus. Once the construction crew has a chance to compare the actual wiring and plumbing in the ceilings with the plans, we may need to move a few additional teachers.

Prior to the start of the school year, plans will be made to relocate faculty parking from the east side adjacent to the gym to the west side adjacent to the music wing, and then moving student parking southward. The county is in the process of relocating lockers from the D and L halls to the A, K, E, and F halls. As a result, at this point we do not believe it will be necessary to have 9th graders sharing lockers.

We have also met with the architect on the room number scheme which will be phased in starting with the 2007-2008 school year. The tentative plan is to basically preserve most of the alpha conventions on the first floor since people are used to this. First floor hallways from A-J will remain with the same alpha letter, but will be numbered A101, A102, etc. Second floor corridors will be renumbered so that the hallway above the A hallway will be numbered A201, A202, etc., instead of K1, K2, etc. This will free up the letters K-P for use in new first floor hallways. We are also looking at the feasibility of labeling lockers in the A wing as starting with the letter "A", those in the B wing as starting with the letter "B," etc. We believe this will facilitate finding lockers at the start of school years and when a parent has to pick up books for a sick student.

Once the school year begins, we will post updates on our web site.

Winter 2005