As Warwick schools open today, administrators project enrollment to be close to what it was when the system closed for summer vacation. But that’s not to say there aren’t changes.

For starters, Holliman students aren’t returning to Holliman and Oakland Beach students will return to their school. For the last year Oakland Beach School has been housed in Gorton. And now that Oakland Beach is back in Oakland Beach, Holliman has moved into Gorton as renovation work continues at Holliman.

As of Monday, Steve Gothberg, who oversees school buildings and construction, was still under the gun to complete the installation of an elevator at Warwick Neck School.

“We’re going down to the wire,” he said. He explained work has spread beyond the elevator that would interrupt school operations and for that reason there could be a delay in opening.

“Greenwood is ready,” he said of the elementary school that was cleared of furnishings in June so crews could install a new HVAC system and roofing over the summer. Furniture was returned to the building over the last week enabling teachers to set up classrooms. Work will continue on the roof and HVAC as well.

Renovations will also continue at Oakland Beach where all of the windows – Gothberg didn’t have a count but said “there’s a lot” – need to be replaced with hurricane rated windows, as the school is within a mile of bay waters. He said delivery of the new windows was delayed by three weeks; however, they are expected this week. Installation, Gothberg said, would be done during non-school hours and completed over the next two months. 

“There are some updates to the curriculum and resources this year that are both high-quality and align to the standards,” Superintendent Lynn Dambruch reported. “We have also added two additional coaches in the middle schools to support ELA and Writing.”

In addition, Dambruch said the district would work throughout the fall to complete the RIDE Grant Funded Outdoor Learning Spaces for seven of the district’s elementary schools.

“We are excited to begin the new year and look forward to the new indoor and outdoor spaces,” Director of Elementary Education Patricia Cousineau said.

Open houses will start in September with details posted on individual school sites, she said. Cousineau gave a shout out to the to the department’s facilities team for their work over the summer helping to ready the schools.

Assistant Superintendent and Director of Secondary Education William McCaffrey gave a thumbs-up to the opening of high and middle schools, adding that the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center programs housed at Drum Rock School have returned to the center. Demolition of Drum Rock is projected for March, when construction of the new Toll Gate begins.

Also in preparation of construction of the new Pilgrim and Toll Gate High Schools, McCaffrey reported the track at Warwick Veterans Middle School is being resurfaced “to help support the high school athletic teams when the construction begins.”