By Xavier Guzman
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
After years of dealing with overheated classrooms, unreliable drinking water, outdated technology, and aging infrastructure, students at Pikesville High School began another academic year in a refurbished building.
Renovations of the 171,000-square-foot building began in the 2014-2015 school year and were completed in 2016. The renovations included new air-conditioning, replacements in electrical wiring and plumbing installation, a new sprinkler system, and new fire alarms.
According to Justin Silberman, the senior legislative aide to Councilman Izzy Patoka, D-2nd District, total renovation costs topped out at roughly $50 million – $38 million of which came from Baltimore County’s budget and $11 million from the state of Maryland.
“Education is the most important investment that elected officials can make because our children are our present and our future and we need to do anything we can to support and prepare our future leaders,” Silberman said. “No child should have to learn in schools without air conditioning or [with] brown drinking water. They should have all the resources, tools and adequate learning facilities to thrive in a 21st century environment.”
Pikesville High School Principal Sandra Reid. Photo by Xavier Guzman
Although the school was undergoing many positive changes, it wasn’t an easy transition for students who attended the school while the renovations were taking place.
“Renovations were complete during my junior year,” said class of 2018 graduate Josie Shaffer, who is currently a sophomore at the University of Maryland and a digital fellow at Mothership Strategies. “It was hard to focus in three trailers.”
On the optimistic side, Shaffer said, staff and students were looking forward to the move and to experience the new technology that had awaited them.
“It was interesting to see how the school was built in the mold of 21st century learning,” Shaffer said. “For example, the library got rid of the computer labs because we all had personal devices. I was in the multimedia program, which had brand new laptops for that classroom as well as a very nice TV studio that allowed us to do a lot more with the program.”
Technological advancements were also put into place for the tech education program, adding new state-of-the-art studios for school announcements and news.
Sandra Reid, the school’s principal, said some parts of the building were completely gutted and restored to make room for major enhancements to the facility.
“Science rooms were made bigger, and they had all the amenities,” Reid said. “Even in the art room, they have a kiln in there. We became ADA accessible for the first time in our auditoriums.”
According to the BCPS website, Pikesville High School is only one of two high schools in Baltimore County that has undergone complete renovations since 2015, the other being Hereford High School.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the fall of 2016, staff and students were now able to enjoy their new and improved learning facility. There were notable modifications with the overall atmosphere of the revamped school and the character of the students.
“There’s a difference in morale,” Reid said. “There’s a difference in effectiveness of the building because now not only do we have air-conditioning – which allows for climate (in terms of making people feel good about this building)— but it was also important because we now have science rooms that are state-of-the-art. We now have wi-fi and technology support that allows an opening up of a whole new world instructionally and pedagogically.”
Construction manager at Office of Facilities Construction and Improvement, Philip Maddox, said that Oak Contracting LLC was the construction management firm in charge of renovating the school.