New Elementary School Update – April 2020

FCS Families,

While you are busy navigating the online learning process at home, the construction team is hard at work on your new school! They are working diligently to make sure that you have a fresh, beautiful building to call home once we are together again.  We are praying for the construction team’s safety every day and we ask that you to join us in prayer for them too.

The outside of the building is 90% complete.  We have started fine grading the perimeter of the building to prepare for landscaping.  Some of the trees that were planted already have beautiful flowers on them. Thank the Lord that Spring is here!  Over the next week, we will begin grading the pad to prepare for the playground equipment installation. Your new playground will have a pour-in-place bonded rubber surface under the equipment for added cushion and safety. Adjacent to the new playground components, there will also be a large area to run and play! This entire space will be fenced in for safety.  At the front of the school, the metal portico roof will go down onto the steel roof structure within the next few weeks.  Once this is complete, the stone veneer can be applied to the vertical supports.  Around the sides of the school, the wide sidewalks are continuing to be formed and poured to provide safe access around the building.

On the inside of the school,  six retractable basketball hoops, two scoreboards and a fold-up half court divider curtain have been installed in the gym. Gym flooring application will begin soon and the process takes about three weeks. Once the floor is laid, the court lines will be painted onto the floor and we will install the retractable bleachers along the outside wall.

The ceramic tile has been installed throughout the multi-stall student bathrooms as well as the staff bathrooms and the clinic bathroom. Ceramic tiling continues in the private bathrooms in the Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st grade classrooms. We are installing plumbing components just as fast as the tile is being completed.  So far, all of the sinks are installed in the main bathrooms.

The ceiling grid, ceiling lights, switches, plugs and HVAC equipment are all being finalized. The “storefront” doors have been installed at the front of the building and let so much light into the front of the vestibule in the mornings! In addition, the finish painting continues throughout the building.  The classrooms/corridors are getting their second coat of paint.  They are also finishing the drywall in the corridor skylights.  What a blessing to have some natural daylight sprinkled throughout the interior of the building.  The painted door frames are almost complete, as well!  Once that is done, we can hang the door slabs for all of the interior classroom doors.

In the coming weeks, you can expect to see the classroom and corridor flooring laid, as well as, the carpet squares for the library and main office.

The cabinetry has been installed in the art room, warming kitchen, teacher’s lounge, and clinic.

I hope this construction progress update has gotten you excited for our reunion together as soon as we can safely do so.  What a joy it will be to celebrate our new building together with our FCS family!

Please, pray for the health and safety of our workers.  If you have a note or picture you want to send to the construction team, please forward it to nduggins@gofcs.org to ensure it is delivered to them ASAP.

I know the workers would be thrilled to know that you are praying for them and encouraging them during this time.

We are continuing to pray for each of you and we hope you have wonderful weekend!