“On behalf of the Gloucester High School community, welcome to our new home.”
Gloucester County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Vladu welcomed the assembled Gloucester County School Board and Board of Supervisors members, state representatives, former and current GCPS staff members and students, architecture and construction employees and the community to a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday morning to celebrate the completion of the GHS renovation project.
Discussions for either replacing or renovating GHS began many years ago. Dr. Walter Clemons, retired GCPS superintendent, and current school board member Troy Andersen helped spearhead the effort.
“Dr. Walter Clemons and Mr. Troy Andersen, thank you for planting the seeds that brought us here today,” said Vladu. “You saw what this school could be. And now, it has finally happened.”
Vladu thanked the gathered state representatives, Moseley Architecture team, E.T. Gresham Company crew, school board and board of supervisors’ members. He also thanked the community for supporting the project.
“You believed in this project,” he said to the community. “You voted for it. You funded it. And you trusted us to turn that vision into reality.”
He also expressed gratitude to the students and staff who not only survived the construction, but also made great strides in academic achievement for the district.
“For three years, you worked, studied and taught through noise, dust and construction,” said Vladu. “And through it all, you didn’t just make it through, you thrived.”
GHS remained open throughout the construction period. The project was completed in phases so parts of the building could still be open for instruction and extracurricular activities. An annex of modular classrooms was brought in to accommodate students and staff when their classrooms were displaced by construction.
“This project took approximately 959 days to complete,” said Andersen. “During those 959 days, only 1.5 days of instruction were lost due to construction issues. When you back out summers, that leaves you with an uptime of 99.8 percent.”
School board chair Leonne Arsenovic and County Administrator Carol Steele implored the students to both enjoy and respect their newly-renovated school.
GHS principal Ade Brayboy had the honor of cutting the ceremonial ribbon in the extended learning area, which is affectionately referred to as “the courtyard” by students and staff.
The ribbon cutting was followed by student-led tours of the school. GHS has now been open and operating for 50 years.
Thursday evening, the school welcomed families, students, alumni, residents and community partners to tour the school, view Career and Technical Education displays, browse spirit gear and booster club tables and explore a renovation gallery that showed the school before and after the renovation.
