Besides seeing the construction outside and hearing it in our classrooms, little is known about the process of construction here at SSSAS. Many students have been wondering how the process is going so far, as well as if we’re on track for the new building to open next year. I interviewed Mr. Mallett, Director of the Upper School, about some of these unanswered questions. 

What would you say is something that you were concerned about going into this construction process, but turned out much better than expected?

Mr Mallett: The most surprising thing for me is the absence of construction-related noise. I feared that the classrooms closest to the construction were going to hear quite a bit of hammering and jackhammering and construction-related noise. And although at times there has been noise, it hasn’t interfered too much with the teaching and learning in those classrooms. So it has been positive. 

Since the plan is to open up in September, and since everything’s going well, do you think those projections will stay?

Mr Mallett: So far, we have every reason to believe that we’ll be able to meet the deadline. I mean, like Mr. Meade [from Davis Construction] said, we’re on track. We’re gonna have to pour the foundation, then maybe do the iron for the structure then they do the electrical or, you know, so there’s a very tight timeline of what’s going to happen. And they are, they’re following the schedule that they’ve communicated, we haven’t anticipated we haven’t seen any delays. 

What has been your favorite or most anticipated aspect of the new building?

Mr Mallett: There’s not just one, But if I had to choose one, it would be the student gathering place. The Student Commons. Because as you know, we don’t have that right now. So you go to a high school? And where do you gather with all your friends? Last year, it was the dining hall. I’m looking forward to that because it’s going to be a place for kids to get together between classes during their free periods…I think that’s an important part of building the community in the school. 

If there is one thing you could say to the students, and overall community of St.Stephen’s about this process that they don’t know about, what would you say?

Mr Mallett:  I think what they might not know is the money we raised to build this building. It doesn’t come from tuition. Zero tuition dollars go to this building. And it’s through people giving gifts to the school to benefit the students. And these are people who don’t go to school here. These are alums. These are parents of alums. These are folks who were part of the community before the schools merged. So the kids might think, “Oh, my tuition dollars are going to that.” It’s not, it’s not our tuition, because tuition is used just to run the operation.

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I also interviewed Mr. Meade, superintendent of the construction project, who works for Davis Construction, about some of these unanswered questions, as well as the behind-the-scenes work on the building. 

What do you think has been the most surprising aspect of this process so far? Would you describe that aspect as negative or positive?

Mr. Meade: It’s been a very positive one. I wouldn’t say there’s anything negative at all. I’ve been in this business now for 24 years. Sometimes we have good projects, which they’re kind of few and far between, but we have a very good project right now. This is one of the variables. The cooperation with St.Stephen’s St.Agnes has been fantastic. And then our architect has been very responsive to subcontractor quality work. Which has been a good combination.

So I know you said the process is going well. Has there been something that hasn’t gone so well? Or something that is taking longer than expected?

Mr. Meade: We’ve had issues when starting the project. The issue was more previous and had to do more with the surrounding structures. The gymnasium, the boys’ locker room, and the wrestling room’s foundation were all compromised. So when we had to demolish the building next door to it, whenever you do that, it can be risky because if it collapses it already has a sort of compromised foundation. 

What is your favorite aspect of this construction site? Or what has been your favorite part of working on this new building? 

Mr. Meade: For me, because we work with the same materials practically on every job that we do. For me it’s always the people. To experience a new set of people and a group of people, in this case, St. Stephen’s, but even our team, we all don’t usually work together from job to job. So even when we stepped foot on this, we didn’t know each other. And over the past few months, it’s been fantastic. And we know a new group of people within my own company and here so for me, it’s the people and it’s the experiences with those people.

If you could say one thing to St. Stephen’s students and community as a whole, what would you say? What would you want the students to know about this process specifically?

Mr. Meade: You know, that’s a very good question. And, I think a lot of times, as I told you, I have my own children and since I do my own craftsmanship around my house, one thing I’ve always tried to tell them is to be thankful, and I think gratitude has a lot to do with it. But the ability to see that when you walk into your new space and you have that meal, you have to sit down and you’re in a new classroom, they’re all fantastic. 

But I think oftentimes we lose the fact that somebody did put that in for you. And it’s not just us, your teachers, your community, your parents, the staff, all of those did that for you. When one of my daughters had orientation, there was someone who came up on the stage and it was sort of an older building. And he was a professor, he went up on stage, but he started talking about a man named Marcus. But he started going into a story about Marcus. He had trouble at home, running low on money, he was a carpenter, etc. I was fascinated with the story. 

The reason I’m bringing this up is because Marcus had done all of the beautiful trim work within the theater that we were in, and how many people have sat in this chair, and never knew that a man named Marcus has all these problems of daily life, and was able to do all that he accomplished. But more to the point is when you sit there and you get to enjoy all these days, you’re looking up, everything’s painted and everything’s beautiful and the sun is shining.

 And there was always an individual with his own story, doing that particular thing. I know the students all made sacrifices during the school year. While we’re building this building, we took away a lot of classrooms, but I believe we’re building something special.