At that night's football game, the band marched in tie-dyed outfits to match their 1960s tunes, and because their uniforms were, hopefully, buried inside one of four storage containers. This week Principal Don Woodring planned to dig through each one.

But interim school business administrator Fran Tolley put her foot down Friday and told construction crews that they weren't allowed in the building over the weekend. It was the only way, she said, that the janitors could complete the work needed to allow staff into the building Monday, and students on Tuesday.

It worked. "Monday the place looked great," said Mr. Woodring. "The custodians worked so hard, the hallways and classrooms gleamed!"

But it's still a construction site. The $21.8 million renovation and expansion project hit full stride over the summer and is expected to wrap up in the spring. Music classes are meeting this month in the gym and the cafeteria is also a classroom.

Students this week will find an expanded nurse's suite with three curtained beds, an exam office, a reception area and a handicapped-accessible bathroom. To do this, the business office was moved across the hall to the former guidance offices.

Counselors, along with the child study team - most recently based in a trailer, an office for the technology systems manager, a career center room and small conference room, fill what had been the library. The area is freshly carpeted with corporate-style furnishings that look pricy for a public school. In reality, they were donated, with arrangements made by former board member Rick Anthes of Lambertville.

Throughout the building there's fresh paint where it was needed and some classroom floors were replaced. Classrooms have new lighting that is energy efficient and better designed so that it's "brighter, more evenly distributed and easier on the eyes," said Mr. Woodring.

Once the ductwork is completed, the entire school will be air conditioned, he added, since there was enough money for the upgrade in the amount voters approved two years ago.

The project has run fairly smoothly. Contractors hit a snag last month extending the septic line to the new auditorium, which will have restrooms. What should have been a two-day project will take weeks, said Mrs. Tolley, because the solid rock is in the way. The work will continue after the school day, she added, because removing the rock is so noisy.

The work, in front of the school, also means that the buses will line up in the back lot used by students and teachers.

But the biggest delays, said Mrs. Tolley, were caused by new regulations. Opening up the walls to upgrade mechanical systems kicked in requirements to upgrade what was already there to meet current code, she said.

While the cafeteria is ready this week, the stage was ripped out and is a storage area. Soon it will be the temporary library. Because of continued duct work, the cafeteria kitchen is expected to open at month's end, along with renovated high school science and music rooms. The art room, across the hall from the music rooms, is functional. As for school lunches, local pizzerias and delis will supply lunch items and kitchen staff will prepare some items from neighboring school kitchens, said Mr. Woodring.

By spring the auditorium should be completed, along with the addition linking the high school classrooms in the A-wing with the middle school classrooms in the B-wing. The new wing will house the library, a computer lab, special ed classrooms, storage, offices and middle school classrooms for art, science and music. This week that area has a concrete base and metal framing. Fences create "chutes" leading from exit doors in both wings as emergency exits.

The new middle school gym and adjoining commons area are also framed, with a concrete floor and roofs. They were littered with equipment and construction debris on Friday but that didn't dampen Mr. Woodring's enthusiasm. "It's amazing, we're starting to see it happen!" he said.

Teachers, warned about the building's limitations this year, have altered lesson plans and will turn to alternate resources, such as the county library's online system, said Mr. Woodring. For example, he said, science teachers will concentrate on books and use computers for visual aids until the labs are ready.

"We're trying not to have surprises," he said.

Starting this week, construction workers will wear picture ID badges and be limited weekdays to areas where they can't interact with students, said Mr. Woodring. Areas like the cafeteria kitchen will be completed on a 3 to 11 p.m. work shift, he added.

SOUTH

PHOTO CAPTION: SCHOOL'S OPEN and so is the ceiling as work continues on a $21.8 million expansion and renovation project at South Hunterdon High School. Students got an extra-long summer vacation, getting out early in June and returning Tuesday. Custodians worked overtime on the weekend to get everything gleaming for students like freshmen Nicole Ruzicka and Parker Jensen. CREDIT: Photo by Ben Scheetz

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