$55 million is being spent by CSSD to improve Silverado High School. Beginning this summer and planning to end in January of 2026, this project will revamp the high school to the last wire.
“It’s a facelift,” said Silverado principal Jaime Ditto. “Everyone feels better when a building is clean and it works, and it’s freshly painted.”
Construction workers will work on the plumbing, the wiring and other things behind the walls. Logically, the air conditioning will be worked on during the winter, and the heating system will be worked on during the summer.
Because students still need to learn at the school, the project will be done in phases. Essential areas of the school will be worked on during the summer, including the 600s, the gym area, the 500s with the cafeteria, and the downstairs part of the main office. The summer work will also include the bathrooms in the 500s, 300s, and 200s, so they will be ready for the next school year.
The next phase will be at the start of the school year, with the library, the upstairs offices and the 400s. The 400s includes regular classrooms as well as the theater and the band, choir and orchestra rooms. The next phases, for which the order has not yet been released, will be in the remaining wings of the school.
“When the work is being done, teachers will be out of their regular classrooms for anywhere between 10-12 weeks,” Ditto said. “So it’s not this massive amount of time.”
Classes will be moved to vacant classrooms or fenced-in portables that will arrive this summer. There will be seven portables that will hold fourteen classrooms. The classes of students with physical limitations will be moved to classrooms inside the building, because the portables will not have wheelchair access.
“No one’s having to walk to Sam’s Club to have class,” Ditto said “If your room is out in the portables, it’s just like walking to band now, because that’s where the portables are going to be.”
The portables will be located by the football field and the bike rack. Next year because of the six-period day, there will also be an extra minute in the passing period and students should be able to get to class without much issue. There will also be constant communication, so students will know where they’re supposed to go for class.
“It just comes down to reading the communication that we send out to you, reading the weekly communication, reading the emails that we send out to you, and listening to when your teachers are telling you things,” Ditto said. “We will send out no less than weekly communication on the updates and what’s happening next.”
The principal has also asked all the construction people to communicate as well, so that she can provide accurate moving dates to teachers that they can relay to students. The construction schedule is subject to change, so communication is essential to ensuring everything runs smoothly.
The project may be inconvenient as it goes underway. It will limit parking as materials are moved in. Already, teachers have to clear out personal things and materials from their classrooms in preparation for their eventual move. Remodeling an entire school while holding classes has its challenges. But it is hoped that in the end, the result will be worth it.
“I told the teachers, go watch HGTV to feel what it’s like to live during a renovation project,” Ditto said. “It’s dusty, and it can be frustrating a little bit because you’re living in a construction zone, but the end product is going to be exciting.”
Silverado is over 30 years old. It needs work. Things like air conditioners are not meant to last 50 years, so they’re going to work on them. Things will finally get fixed. Classrooms will get flat-panel TVs and updated projectors, the exterior walls will get a fresh coat of paint and the school will feel like new. When it’s finally done, it’ll be amazing.
