By Nathan Easington Howard University News Service

July 7th, 2019.

The first week during the birth month of the nation is when the renovation on Hyde-Addison Elementary school is scheduled to finish.  Although there has been increasing concern from the Ward 2 community on if the school would indeed open in time for the 2019-2020 school year; recent updates from Commissioners in Ward 2 and Council Member, Jack Evans have assured residents that the July 7th date is the most likely time for the school to open.

“When my family and I moved to the area over 20 years ago, Hyde-Addison was one of the few elementary schools available in the neighborhood, and has withstood the test of time for countless families,” said Evans.

As the Ward’s and the greater Georgetown neighborhood’s only public elementary school, a lot of time and energy is at stake for families if the construction isn’t finished on time.  When the school closed in the summer of 2017, to start the renovations, students had to be bussed to a less localized school, Stoddert Elementary, which caused issue for some parents who didn’t live near Stoddert which is located in the Northwest section of the Ward.    

“I was very concerned with the proposed completion time of the school, but after being given a special tour and seeing what the kids are getting, the wait is worth it,” said Kishan Putta an ANC 2E Commissioner and who has a seat on the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Board.  

The School Improvement Team or (SIT) has highlighted throughout the construction process that this is a modernization more than a renovation.  Obviously keeping the schools exterior surface, but improving everything from the student’s gym, to computer labs, to their library’s and lockers.  

As students and parents patiently wait for the construction to finish in July and for the school to be opened for students by the start of the academic school year, residents can look forward to a tour of the school starting to be given after its completion in July.