Key School Renovation: What will it look like?

March, 2000 -- Many in the community are interested in the big changes coming to Key School.
The following are excerpts from a Key Notes article by Julie Koczela:
Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott (EYP), the architectural firm that is designing the school plans, presented the first draft of elevations to the Facilities Planning Committee.
The east elevation, (see newsletter page 6), shows the new building from Eskridge Terrace. The existing building is behind the library and administration building on the right side of the drawing.
The most exciting part of this plan is the clock tower entrance that will provide for a reading nook in the second floor library.
A glass-enclosed bridge connects the building to the second floor classrooms which will be above the cafeteria and gym. To the left of the clock tower will be an open-air breezeway which leads to the playing fields and to the Hurst Terrace entrance.
The architects are attempting to design the addition to complement the existing building without imitating it.
Many characteristics of the old building will be incorporated into the new, such as: brick color and size, roof line and pitch, and other architectural details.
The new windows will not be quite as large as our wonderful existing ones, but they will be similar in look. The ceiling height in the new classrooms will be 10 feet compared to the 13 feet in the current classrooms.
An important meeting was held in mid-January with the Army Corps, EYP and District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to discuss in great detail four scenarios regarding the phasing of the construction.
The scheme, for which the Committee and EYP argued, calls for construction to begin this June on the soccer field and excavation of the new building.
Classes would continue on-site in the current building for the entire school year 2000-2001 and that building would be renovated during the summer of 2001.
Construction would be complete in September 2001.
We await final concurrence by DCPS.
Many safety precautions would be in place so that learning would not be interrupted. This scheme could allow us to have a new soccer field for the next school year even while some of our playing areas would not be available due to construction.
There are still many details to work out, but fortunately they are being addressed and our input is being considered.