(Click this link to view article in a new tab to print or share with others)

Staff Input

The past two months have been crucial for gathering valuable input. We've held a series of user group meetings at each impacted elementary school. These sessions included kindergarten teachers at Carl Traeger and nearly all staff at Franklin and Oakwood. Their feedback is essential for identifying the specific needs of different spaces, ensuring that the designs truly meet the unique requirements of each school community.

A unique aspect of the Franklin project involves the input from Shapiro STEM Academy and Roosevelt Elementary staff. Their feedback is vital as these schools will be merging into the expanded four-track Franklin facility. This collaborative approach helps shape the overall design direction for each project.

In addition to these ongoing design efforts, the OASD Core Planning Team and Bray Architects recently completed a detailed review of Menominee Elementary School. With nine months of operation under its belt, this assessment helps us understand what's working well and identify opportunities to refine future designs, ensuring continuous improvement across our facilities.

Planning and Design Update

The design process at Carl Traeger Elementary has moved forward rapidly, thanks to the timely engagement of staff and efficient decision-making. A major focus has been on the site layout, especially for the four-classroom addition. Discussions around traffic flow and site logistics have been guided by valuable input from Carl Traeger's elementary and middle school principals, the Core Planning Team, a traffic engineer, a civil engineer, and Bray Architects. We're pleased to report that the project remains on schedule and is expected to be ready for bidding in September.

Franklin and Oakwood Elementary Schools are also progressing at a strong pace. User group meetings were prioritized to collect as much feedback as possible before staff and students leave for summer break. Gathering this input now is essential, as designs will need to be significantly advanced by the time staff return in August.

Looking ahead, MSA Professional Services, Inc. has been selected to engineer the HVAC projects at Emmeline Cook, Read, and Lakeside elementary schools. Design meetings with the Core Planning Team (CPT) for these projects are scheduled to begin in late June with MSA.

What's Next?

The OASD Core Planning Team and Bray Architects remain dedicated to the current three projects, always keeping the overall referendum schedule in mind to ensure timelines and budgets are met.

To support this effort, the team has met with all schools directly impacted by Phase 2 referendum projects between April 1 and June 4. As the design phase for Carl Traeger, Franklin, and Oakwood wraps up, we look forward to transitioning into the next round of projects: the new middle school and the Oshkosh North auditorium. We're committed to approaching these next phases with the same momentum and collaborative spirit!