Sept. 20, 2004 – Work began last week on the St. John School on Gifft Hill's new gymnasium when the contractor cut the road. The $1 million project is a step in solidifying the merger last summer of the Pine Peace School and The Coral Bay School into the St. John School on Gifft Hill.
The steel gymnasium building is currently under construction in Florida and will be shipped to St. John. Co-administrator Scott Crawford said Monday, "Everybody seems to think we'll be in the building by the first week in March,"
The building will initially be divided into classrooms to house the entire upper school. Eventually, the school expects to raise money to build actual classrooms and use the gymnasium as its name suggests. However, right now the school is preparing to launch its fundraising campaign to pay for the gymnasium building.
The lower school will remain a short walk along Gifft Hill Road in what was formerly the Pine Peace School. The upper school students are still at the former Coral Bay School location in the Lumberyard Shopping Complex in Cruz Bay.
Crawford said the move to the new building would provide more space and save money. The school will no longer have to pay rent at the Lumberyard Shopping Complex.
He also said it will help solidify the school's identity in its first year of operation as The St. John School.
Architect Ken Yolman, who designed the building, said that the project is meeting its timeline. The school has 185 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12.
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