Students with classes on the first floor may have already noticed changes at the front of their classrooms, and after school Friday, contractors will begin work on 2nd floor classrooms north of the library as Garfield High School’s A/V (Audio/Visual) tech refresh ramps up. Work began on January 12 and is expected to be completed by April 28.

The refresh includes new document cameras, teacher microphones, and upgraded touchscreen capable classroom projectors. Another major component is safety; hundreds of cameras will be installed throughout campus, both inside and outside the two main buildings. Most cameras are either pointing at parking lots or located in hallways, and the inside of classrooms or bathrooms will not be visible on any cameras, according to the district.

The refresh has already occurred at Roosevelt, Cleveland, and Rainier Beach high schools. Additionally, the security upgrades have been installed at numerous elementary and middle schools across the district. Find the complete list of schools on the district’s project page here.

At Garfield, upgrades are taking place across two phases. Phase one is all work in the main building while phase two involves all exterior work and the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center. Each phase contains multiple work zones, with the construction timelines overlapping across all zones and phases. There are eight zones in phase one and four zones in phase two. Each zone encompasses around half a floor, or roughly a dozen classrooms. See below for a full list of affected classrooms and locations by date.

Construction will be done by Valley Electric and will occur only at night, from 4pm to 9pm. However, the biggest construction impact for students and staff is the removal of 5 feet of classroom space closest to the wall where the projector is located. Contractors will put up temporary walls and place mobile whiteboards in classrooms where front whiteboards cannot be accessed.

Dr. Tarance Hart, Garfield’s principal, acknowledged that he was “concerned” about the impact the construction may have on classroom learning, but stated that “the goal is to make it … as least disruptive as possible” to teachers and students. “I think the end product is going to be a good thing,” he said.

Some teachers are cautiously optimistic, and willing to wait out the construction for the promise of better tech ahead. Graham Ramsey, who teaches Phys A/Chem A, wasn’t concerned about the impacts of construction. “I expect they’ll do a good job,” he said. “I’m an equipment person, I like good equipment, so equipment upgrade sounds good.”

Some concerns surrounding the possibility of clubs and afterschool activities being forced to cancel or relocate if workers needed to use the rooms have risen, but Dr. Hart assuaged those concerns, ensuring that as long as staff provide administration notice of what clubs meet when and where, they will make sure that construction works around those rooms during those dates and times. Even for busy rooms like the band room, where there are frequent rehearsals that can go late into the evening, Dr. Hart doesn’t foresee an issue. “They’re able to work around [conflicts]. They’re recognizing that they’re in a school … and there’s a lot of activities. They’ve experienced that in their other schools, so they’re gonna work around those [conflicts].”

Full List of Impacted Rooms and Areas by Zone

• Phase 1 (Main Building)
  • Zone 1 (1/12-3/03)
    • 1st floor, north of the middle hallway.
    • Ex. Commons, main office, attendance office, counseling office, 105-106, 118-121.
  • Zone 2 (1/16-3/09)
    • 1st floor, south of middle hallway.
    • Ex. cafeteria, custodian office, 107, 115. 
  • Zone 3 (1/23-3/16)
    • 2nd floor, north of middle hallway.
    • Ex. 201-212, 238-242
  • Zone 4 (1/29-3/18)
    • 2nd floor, middle hallway to before orchestra band room.
    • Ex. Library, courtyard, 213-218, 233-237
  • Zone 5 (2/04-3/24)
    • 2nd floor, south of orchestra band room
    • Ex. 219-232
  • Zone 6 (2/10-3/24)
    • 3rd floor, north of middle hallway
    • Ex. 301-310, 333, 337-342
  • Zone 7 (2/16-3/25)
    • 3rd floor, middle hallway to midpoint between middle and south hallways
    • Ex. 311-317, 328-331
  • Zone 8 (2/20-4/01)
    • 3rd floor, south of midpoint of middle and south hallways
    • Ex. 318-327a
• Phase 2 (Outside + QJPAC)
  • Zone 1 (2/24-4/14)
    • 1st floor, north of main east-west hallway
    • Ex. Black box theatre, weight room, locker rooms, 120Q-140Q
  • Zone 2 (2/26-4/16)
    • 1st floor, south of main east-west hallway
    • ex. All theatre areas, elevator, east stairs, 111Q-116Q
  • Zone 3 (3/04-4/22)
    • 2nd floor, north of main east-west hallway
    • ex. Gym and storage spaces
  • Zone 4 (3/10-4/28)
    • 2nd floor, south of main east-west hallway
    • ex. Bathrooms, concessions
  • Site Zone 1 (1/12-2/24)
    • Front guest parking lot, drop off zone
  • Site Zone 2 (1/14-2/26)
    • Admin parking lot + western section of track (to install cameras on light poles)
  • Site Zone 3 (1/16-3/04)
    • Staff parking lot + eastern section of track
  • Portable P1 (1/21-2/05)
    • Portable