Burton Elementary School received a revamped gymnasium as part of its ongoing bond construction work.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published October 14, 2025
BERKLEY — The Berkley School District has undergone changes over the last several years due to its bond and sinking fund construction projects.
Those updates are even more apparent this school year, as there have been significant updates at the high school and elementary schools.
According to Superintendent Scott Francis, there currently is more than $100 million worth of bond and sinking fund projects underway in some shape or form.
Just this year, projects to update the science wing and pool at the high school were completed. The science wing underwent a complete renovation and redesign of the lab spaces. There were updates made to the chemical storage room and new furniture. The pool project’s scope included a new heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system, new starting blocks, a new diving board, a new timing system, new scoreboard speakers and lighting.
At Burton and Pattengill elementary schools, the multipurpose/cafeteria room additions are near completion. The spaces will host a new lunch room, a new kitchen, storage rooms, restrooms and also can be used for collaborations.
“The gymnasiums will also receive a makeover, getting new flooring, backboards for basketball, gym wall padding and paint,” Francis said. “Both projects also include an increase in parking for staff and evening visitors, and those two multipurpose cafeterias are scheduled to be complete in the next month or two.”
“It also will act or be available in many other ways too, as well, for large group instructional opportunities for classrooms to take place outside of the lunch hours, after school hours, different meetings and events for the school and also for the community as well,” he continued.
Francis said the gyms previously hosted lunch for the kids, which would often mean staff had to scramble in order to get the space prepared for lunch.
“So, that means gym class is wrapping up and then would need to be cleaned and then set up for hundreds of kids to come in for lunch over a certain amount of time during the middle of the day,” he said. “That would require staffing to get lunch tables and food carts and all the things that are necessary to set up lunch. And then when lunch period was over, we’d have to essentially turn that back into a clean gymnasium for kids to participate in PE class, and so that hinders flexibility with schedules.”
Burton Elementary Principal Lauren Fragomeni said these updates will be transformative for the students and staff at the school to have two separate spaces.
“This new multipurpose room also allows our kiddos to have a restroom in the space,” she said. “It means they do not have to travel down the hallways. They’re staying right within the cafeteria. Our new space has many, many windows, which is just wonderful for us to bring that natural light in as well. We’ve got brand-new sound panels to help absorb that sound. So really, this new multipurpose space is just going to be the best for students, for staff, for collaboration, for learning, for our community.”
Burton also has been undergoing updates to its parking lot and Burton Field. Fragomeni said the parking lot construction is in its final phase, which features an external sidewalk that will improve student safely.
Burton Field is getting improvements to improve its drainage particularly during the winter and rainy months of the year.
“That drainage project will now allow during winter months and rainy months for the water and precipitation to drain so that we can utilize the field … for play, for after school, for our city,” she said. “It’s a much needed change. And also, right now, we currently have flooding happening before this drainage project. So, the flooding was so large that … we weren’t able to access the field due to the puddling on the field.”
Other work ongoing in Berkley schools includes the BEAR Complex field house, a black box theater and auditorium construction at the high school, as well as improvements to Angell and Rogers elementary schools.