Construction will soon swallow several classrooms, sending students outside

By Esther Shemia Junior Editor

Inconveniences due to the ongoing renovations of the old school building are about to get much worse.

Beginning in mid-March, the first floor of the building, on the east side, will be under construction. Additionally, renovations of the old classrooms will start during Pesach break, rendering several classrooms unusable for months at a time, Rabbi Galpert confirmed. Rather than working floor by floor, the construction crew “will be working vertically on the classrooms,” Rabbi Galpert explained, meaning that a few classrooms on each floor will be renovated at the same time.

Specifically, the first three or four classrooms on the eastern end of each floor (rooms 201, 301, 401, etc.) will be unusable from mid-April through the end of the school year, Rabbi Galpert confirmed.

By September, those rooms should be fully renovated and the westernmost rooms will be unavailable, and then even- tually the middle strip of rooms.

The loss of these classrooms will relocate many classes to various locations such as outside on the patio and even in Touro College.

The longer walk to get to classes in other buildings will undoubtedly affect students’ ability to get to their classes on time. When asked if students will be held to a strict standard of punctuality, Rabbi Galpert said that “the administration will be flexible given the circumstances.”

Construction in the basement and sub-basement, as well as in the stairwells, has already been affecting students and faculty for months. Among other challenges, many lockers have been relocated, which junior Shelly Shaoul called “extremely inconvenient. The fact that I have to go through the whole Commons to get to my locker is very frustrating.”

Students with classes on the fourth floor came back from winter break to classrooms with no ceilings. Junior Susan Gindi mentioned that one of her classrooms has had an echo since the ceiling tiles were removed. She expressed her