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Planning a construction project at an independent school is no simple task. Neither is preparing the community. The campus is constantly in a state of motion, filled with students and then summer campers. There is a wide range of stakeholders, from those who attend or work at your school to those who neighbor your school to those who donate to your school and everything in between. If the process of a building project is new to you, or if you haven’t done it in a while, here are five tips from our panel of experts on how to prepare your community for a construction project.

1. Communicate with the project stakeholders.

The first step is to identify the stakeholders. These could include: faculty and staff, students and families, trustees, alumni, donors, neighbors and other community members and anyone else you would like to keep informed about the project. Once the stakeholders have been identified, Maureen Bartolomeo, director of finance and operations at Fairfield Country Day School, suggests you build the communication with each of these groups right into the project to-do list.  

The most common ways to keep everyone up to date are through emails, updates posted to the school’s website, and meetings geared towards specific groups. Webcams are also popular. 

When possible highlight how any feedback stakeholders gave you helped shape your decisions. When you can show people you’re listening to them, buy-in improves. Keep the lines of communication open as the project progresses.

2. Set realistic expectations from the beginning. 

Tell people what to expect. Let them know if you’re anticipating increased traffic, decreased parking, noisy activities, temporary program relocations, or other disruptions to the normal day. People do better when they can plan for these changes.

It’s also important to take time to inform the contractor about how your day runs. Are there certain times when it makes sense to stop work for noise or safety issues? For example, during our recent project at The Southport School, we paused construction during student drop-off and pick-up times because of the proximity to the construction site. We also completed some work that was more invasive during the school’s breaks so we wouldn’t disrupt the flow of the typical school day. 

Read Keeping the Community Safe While Working on an Occupied Campus to learn more about this important aspect. 

3. Stay in front of the project. 

Take the time to look over the project schedule and ask questions so you know what’s happening next. No matter how well you plan, there are always surprises. The key here is to be able to make quick, informed decisions to keep the project moving. Be up front with the stakeholders if they will be impacted. 

The Southport School shared progress photos with brief explanations to communicate unexpected discoveries that we uncovered while converting an historic bank into the school’s Arts and Music Building. According to Head of School Ben Powers, “Providing visuals to people about what the construction team was experiencing was extremely helpful in building consensus and garnering continued support.” 

4. Make sure you have the capacity to manage the project.

Do you have someone at the school or on the Board who is capable of managing the project or do you need to look outside of your community for this role? Ask yourself these two questions:

1. Does our internal team have the time, experience and knowledge to run the project successfully without sacrificing other job responsibilities?
2. Do we produce building projects on a regular basis?

If you answered “yes” to these questions, then you’re already in good shape to get started. However, if you answered “no” to either of them, you may want to read Do you Need to Hire an Owner’s Representative? to learn more about what an OPM can do for you.

In some cases it may simply be the right person doesn’t have the time to manage the project. If that’s the issue, perhaps you can temporarily shift some responsibilities around to other staff members during the construction project instead of hiring someone from outside to help.

5. Discuss the long-term impact of the project.

Balance the “negative” impacts with the positive gains the community will have once the project is complete. Most people will focus on what’s happening now, so it’s definitely worth reinforcing the vision for the school when the project is complete. Show the stakeholders the design renderings to help them focus on the end result and the positive impact the completed project will have on the students, faculty and and community as a whole. 

It’s no coincidence that many of these tips are focused on effective communication to stakeholders. Don Kingman, Concord Academy’s director of campus planning and construction, sums it up well, “Construction projects are disruptive to the norms people are used to. You can’t communicate with them enough.” Communication from all parties involved is vital to the success of a project. 

Special thanks to our experts: 

• Ben Powers, The Southport School 
• Maureen Bartolomeo, Fairfield Country Day School
• Don Kingman, Concord Academy 

Contact us to see how we can help you with your next construction project.