OCPS presents 40% construction update for relief elementary school

Inquisitive parents attended a recent Orange County Public Schools meeting to learn about progress being made at a new elementary school under construction to relieve overcrowding at nearby Water Spring Elementary School. The meeting took place Thursday, Feb. 8, at Water Spring.

It also was announced that Matthew Hendricks, WSES principal, has been tapped to lead the new school at 111000 Atwater Bay Drive, Winter Garden. It is slated for completion before the start of the new school year.

The school, currently known as Site 47-E-W-4, is located west of Avalon Road and north of Water Spring Middle School. SchenkelShultz is the project architect. At capacity, the school will hold 853 students; the first-year projection is 725 students.

The elementary school will include a two-story structure with a large interior courtyard, outdoor art labs and two playgrounds. The front of the school will house the office, media center, art and music rooms, multipurpose cafeteria and kitchen, with classrooms and labs to the rear. The second floor will contain classrooms and skills lab as well. A Discovery STEM lab is included.

Parent drop-off will be in the front off Atwater Bay Drive. The school will have parking for 140 vehicles, as well as a stacking capability of 168 vehicles and 38 buses.

Brian Dorsch, project manager, and Seth Spires, site manager, both with Wellbro Building Corporation, presented the construction update. To date, more than 100,000 work hours have been put into building the facility. The site was cleaned and graded in September, the concrete tilt panels were completed in October, the structural steel erection was finished in November, work on the sanitary system on the north end of the site began in December, and the roofing work is about 95% complete.

“There’s a lot of activities taking place in a very small area,” Spires said.

In the next few weeks, the exterior walls will be painted.

Several parents questioned traffic patterns, intersections and the safety of students who walk. There were concerns about releasing the walkers on Lost Creek Drive to the east and the number of people who will be parking along that road. Crosswalks with flashing signals are planned on Lost Creek at the northeast corner of the school property and on Atwater Bay at the southwest corner.

Other parents were upset that the intersection of Atwater Bay and Lost Creek will not have a traffic light or four-way stop signs. The Atwater Bay-Point Rock Drive intersection will be a three-way stop. These decisions have been finalized.

The school name will be decided soon, said Andy Orrell, senior manager of OCPS facilities communications. For more details on the project, visit facilities.ocps.net.