The construction at SC has made a lot of progress within the past two months. As of now, it is estimated that the construction will be done by August 2025, SC associate principal Greg Gardner said. The goal is to get the new band room, orchestra room, three classrooms, cafeteria commons, a large drop-in center as well as some other small spaces finished before the start of the next school year.

Recently, Happ Builders, the company doing the renovations, has been working as much as possible to make all the progress they can before winter, Gardner said. 

“I think we’ve been really lucky,” Gardner said. “Happ Builders, whose sort of the lead contractor on this job has been doing phenomenal. They’ve been really good. They communicate with us well.” 

Particularly, the builders have been working on getting the roofs done where the courtyard and new music rooms will be, Gardner said. 

“The first benchmark in terms of time is making sure that the roofs of the courtyard as well as the band rooms, all get done before winter time so they can continue to work on the inside of the building,” Gardner said. 

To complete the roofs, the workers have to put tar, sealant, and asphalt on them. The smell of the tar has caught the attention of many students and faculty at SC. At first, students were confused about where the smell was coming from. 

“I was confused as to where the tar smell was coming from because it was super strong and smelled like something was burning,” Eileen Cavaliere ‘27 said. “I notice it the most in the B-wing classrooms.” 

While overall the renovations are running smoothly, a problem with the pipes was uncovered as builders were working on the foundation, Gardner said. 

“We have really old pipes; in the courtyard, one of the sewage lines cracked,” Gardner said. “We had a company come in and replace old ceramic pipes with new pipes.”

The nice weather up until now has helped maintain a good schedule, Gardner said. Happ builders have been able to make progress at a fast rate thus far.  

“It’s pretty exciting,” Gardner said. “They’re just going quickly. Every week there’s such huge changes, it’s unbelievable. The last six weeks have been pretty fun, because you see no wall, come back the next day and the wall is halfway done.”