Early sitework is scheduled to begin at the McGrath campus at the end of May. As the community will begin seeing work start to take place in the neighborhood for the new BECC/McGrath construction, please review the following materials that will help explain the site logistics and planning.
Prop E (Elementary & Early childhood) Timeline
Phase 1: McGrath/BECC
- Early Sitework Package Bidding: April/May 2021
- Project Bidding: May/June 2021
- Construction Completed: December 2022
- Fall 2023 – McGrath students attend school in new building; Mark Twain students begin their year at the old McGrath building
Phase 2: Mark Twain Elementary
- Design Hold: June-September 2021
- Concept Design: October-December 2021
- Complete Design: March 2022
- Fall 2023: Mark Twain students begin their year at the old McGrath building
- Construction Completed: June 2024
Final mcgrath/becc site plan
As you can see from this campus overview, once construction is complete at the new McGrath/BECC, there will be a large increase of green space, including new fields, play areas and trees. In addition, the traffic flow throughout the campus will pull cars off of the congested streets of St. Clair Ave and Litzsinger road in order to allow for a safe and efficient pickup and dropoff. Traffic exiting the campus onto High School Drive will continue to be examined. Crossing Guards will help promote safety during heavy traffic hours of the school day and the City of Brentwood is continuing to examine other opportunities to increase safety along High School Drive once construction is complete.
2023-2024 school year
Construction of the new McGrath/BECC is scheduled to be completed in December 2022. During Spring and Summer of 2023, the former McGrath building will be prepared to house Mark Twain students for 2023-2024 school year. During that year, both Mark Twain and McGrath students will be learning in two separate buildings on the same campus while construction takes place at Mark Twain.
After a year, Mark Twain students will return to their newly renovated building and the old McGrath will be demolished to make room for the remaining landscaping and sitework on the McGrath campus.
In addition, we learned from the Middle/High School project what to expect in terms of disruptions during large scale construction. This approach will allow us to do more work at Mark Twain for the same amount of money and will offer fewer disruptions to student learning.
Phased Approach Benefits
Safety: Students and staff will not have to inhabit a live construction site while the renovations take place. While every precaution is taken when construction happens, it is much easier when students are completely removed from the areas construction is taking place.
Learning: Students learn best when they are in an environment free from distractions. By allowing the Mark Twain students to occupy the current McGrath building, we are able to maintain small class sizes while making the necessary upgrades to Mark Twain.
Efficiency: In allowing the construction team full access to the Mark Twain building, we can help ensure the project moves forward in a timely manner. Additionally, without having to creatively schedule around student learning, the district will be able to do more renovation of the Mark Twain site at the same cost as it would if students were occupying the building during construction.
Construction Logistics
We know parking and traffic are concerns in the community. The architects (HTK), along with our owner’s representative (Navigate Building Solutions) have developed a comprehensive construction site logistics plan to help organize and direct parking and traffic for construction contractors during the life of the project.
Indicated in the image above are specific areas for construction laydown and parking areas. Unlike the Middle and High School project, which had limited parking to begin with, the McGrath site offers more opportunities to bring construction parking onto the campus itself and to utilize additional district parking in the spaces along High School Drive. We will continue to work with the construction contractors and the City of Brentwood to enforce proper parking and alleviate as much congestion as possible for our neighbors.
Facilities Updates 