St. Clair Shores districts experience ongoing construction

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Over the summer, the school districts in St. Clair Shores experienced construction to improve school functions and student life. 

 

South Lake Schools
Superintendent Ted VonHiltmayer said they have inside work going on at both Avalon and Elmwood elementary schools. They are also replacing and expanding the parking lot at South Lake Middle School. 

“We’re trying to get more access for parking on the site,” VonHiltmayer said. 

He said the work is being done on the west side of the parking lot.

The elementary schools, VonHiltmayer said, are seeing much more extensive work with HVAC and boiler replacements, new flooring, new lighting and ceiling tiles and more. VonHiltmayer said they’ve moved to LED lighting in both buildings and have repainted the schools.

Most construction projects are scheduled to finish before the start of the school year.

“We have scheduled it so at Avalon there will be some work that’s happening after the start of the school year which is planned,” VonHiltmayer said.

There are designated classrooms for students and staff to be in so work can resume in the second shift in the afternoon.

VonHiltmayer anticipates Avalon Elementary School will be finished by the winter holidays.

“We’re excited about the fact that both of those buildings will have new HVAC systems, new boilers,” VonHiltmayer said. “Like I said, the lighting in the hallways is significantly different. It’s really quite a transformation.” 

 

Lake Shore Public Schools 
Construction continues at Rodgers Elementary School in an effort to make the elementary side smaller than its original junior high school roots. Work also continues on the front of Rodgers which is planned to be an early childhood center, an adult activity center and the home of the district’s administration offices.

Superintendent Joseph DiPonio said construction has been going smoothly and about 99% of the construction on the Rodgers Elementary side will be done by the start of the school year. The early childhood center is scheduled to open in 2026.

“Originally, that was slated to be in the fall of 2026 but that’s been moved forward and it looks like we will be opening a little bit sooner than that but we don’t have an exact date at this time,” DiPonio said.

The construction is part of a previous bond project worth around $67 million for all the work in the district. The elementary school includes a new cafeteria area, gym, courtyards, office and more.

DiPonio said the goal of the project is to maximize efficiency in the district. 

He said the kids were great during the school year, especially since they didn’t have a playground.

“Kids always rise to the occasion, certainly flexible and agile,” DiPonio said. “I think they’re going to be super excited when they come back.”

Kimberly Winiarski, Rodgers Elementary School principal, said they had to have a lot of patience during the school year construction. She also said the staff has been great dealing with relocation and other things along the way.

She said she wants the parents to know the construction and the school will be a work in progress.

“There’s going to be some spaces that aren’t fully complete, 100% done, but we’ll continue to make it evolve into the best learning experience and atmosphere for their own children,” Winiarski said. “And just to thank them for the patience that they’ve had because they’ve had to adapt with us.”

DiPonio said there will be new traffic patterns for parents and staff to follow. He asks for patience from parents and others during ongoing construction. 

 

Lakeview Public Schools
Superintendent Karl Paulson said they’ve been working on a bond issue that was passed in 2019. The bond totaled around $54 million.

This summer, they’ve worked on Lakeview High School’s pool with new heating, cooling, drainage systems and more, the high school auditorium, all the playgrounds at the elementary schools and other projects. The high school auditorium has new carpeting, lighting and other things within the area for students and staff.

An addition to the high school was also completed in March, adding new classrooms and multipurpose rooms to the school.

Paulson said in the last bond they had all of their buildings updated with new technology such as Chrome books for the students and other things throughout the district.

The pool is still under construction and will be into the start of the school year. Currently, the girls’ swim team is practicing at other places and all of their early season home meets have been switched around.

The school district is placing another bond on the upcoming ballot in November. Look to a future edition of the Sentinel for more information closer to the election.

Paulson said all items in the bond are asked for specifically and laid out for voters to see.

“And anyone who wants to ask, we can produce the list that we gave to treasury,” Paulson said.

What’s important to Paulson is completing the items the district said it was going to do with the bond money.

“Promises made, promises kept,” Paulson said.