A three-story auditorium is just one of the many expected changes to come with NHHS’ modernization project, but at what cost? While the 2023-24 school year opened with the unveiling of the new C-building, teachers who were moved into the Randolph building have to endure several hours of drilling, pounding, and other disruptions to their classes.
Several teachers would corroborate in their frustrations regarding the constructions. Many in the south end of the Randolph building are located at or are closest to the epicenter of the major renovations happening in the old quad area along with the Kennedy and Frasher buildings.
Ms. Underwood–an English teacher occupying one of the second-story classrooms in the Randolph building–recalls a time when a lesson on repetition was interrupted by the construction.
“Repetition is like [pounding and drilling begins from construction]… repetition is like this constant drilling that is happening. If you are going to use it as a rhetorical device in your analysis essay, you must correlate it to a message or some sort of metaphor. For example, this repetitive drilling that is happening can be correlated with continuous pain that it inflicts upon all of us.”
Ms. Gullo, one of the English teachers next door to Ms. Underwood expressed her thoughts as well, “Constant noise is a way that institutions such as the CIA use to torture people. Constant noise makes it hard for you to hear your students, it makes it hard for you to concentrate. Constant noise is just pain.”
The unexpectedness of the occurrence of these disturbances does not only pose a problem for teachers, but for students as well. Many in Mx. Tien’s AP U.S. History class in the first story of the Randolph building recalled that they had to take a test while there was constant banging on their classroom walls from the outside.
Their frustrations were not solely focused on the noise, but the lack of notice for the pounding in the first place. Had teachers been notified of the noise in advance, the possibility of testing day schedules could have been modified to accommodate the testing environment the students would have to endure.
Image credits: CoArchitects 2022. “Reinventing North Hollywood High School for 21st Century Learning”
Plans for the NHHS modernization project started as early as 2015, but due to weather delays and the pandemic, the project ultimately continued to get pushed back in deadlines, leaving many to question the official completion date of the project. According to the most recent official news bulletin released by LAUSD, the ribbon-cutting ceremony is supposedly scheduled for sometime in December of 2025, should all go according to plan.
Despite that however, there’s still more to be done until then: the demolition of the Randolph building, and clearance of a space for a conjoined baseball and softball field is still yet to be touched upon. Furthermore, a three-story auditorium–featuring 800 seating spaces,–a library, and an interiorly modernized Kennedy and Frasher Hall are among some of the expected components to emerge from the construction, according to the Co-Architects website. The company is currently undertaking the project in conjunction with Clark Construction.
Whether or not the modernization plans and current timeline will hold true can only be found out by waiting. We can only endure the head throbbing noise, and patiently wait for updates as time goes by.
For more information regarding the NHHS modernization project, the community news bulletin on the NHHS website claims to constantly update its page regarding the construction. In addition, more digital renditions and construction plans are outlined on the Co-Architects and Clark Construction website.
