Renovation – Murch Elementary School

Amazing Broad Branch Stream Playground Coming to Murch

Lisa Burke — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:24:25 +0000

Get ready to ford a stream, climb into a fort, balance, spin, bounce, and zip! The big kid playground at Murch is wild! Designed to give our students a sense of place along The Fort Circle Park National Recreation Trail above our neighborhood’s Broad Branch stream valley, this adventurous playground takes our play space to new heights – literally! The equipment features a double decker fort, three different slide experiences, challenging and undulating climbers, spider web hide-aways, a four-person bouncing see saw, a “boogie board” balance hammock, a tight rope with overhead zip line handle, a rock wall and boulders, monkey bars, and a double-decker-inside-outside Global Spinner! With exciting elements for every ability level, this playground will quickly extinguish all memory of dusty mulch! Thanks to our wonderful parent community, the HSA was able to make a donation for awesome upgrades to the design. Thank you to our team at DCPS, DGS, and the playground designers for capturing the sense of Murch and the dreams of our students, and to SIT members Linda Komes and Sally Gresham for their invaluable expertise in helping the SIT evaluate the equipment options.

Status of the Murch Renovation

Amy Mack — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 13:52:52 +0000

We know everyone is eager to stay up to date about the progress of the Murch renovation. Click here to see the biweekly update from D.C. Public Schools. Also, click here to see the latest update presented to the School Improvement Team (SIT), which includes samples of the furniture, fixtures and equipment that will be in the new building.

Renovation Update: One Year Down!

Lisa Burke — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 17:31:51 +0000

One year to go! As Murch students prepare to start their second and final year in their home away from home at Murch@UDC, construction back on 36th street continues on schedule for a July 2018 completion. Concrete foundations are curing and more than two-thirds of the steel framing for the new wing is up. Inside the historic building, new walls, windows, plumbing and electric are being installed. Watch this site for regular updates from DCPS.

A skeletal view of the 5th grade hallway

Below: Cafeteria
Above: temp. fence around rooftop school garden and PreK playground

Construction on Schedule – Addition Going Up!

Martha McIntosh — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 01:27:04 +0000

As we finish our first year of Murch@UDC, it is a good time to check in on construction of the renovated and expanded Murch@36th Street. Excavation and remediation are complete. The project has all permits necessary and has cleared all major administrative reviews. The construction site is busy with cranes helping to erect steel supports for the new addition to the school. Behind the brick walls of the original school building, classroom walls are starting to go up. Most importantly, construction continues on schedule for completion next summer! DCPS has given the contractors a July 2018 deadline to allow time for staff to move in over the summer and families to see the renovated space prior to the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

You can see more construction photos and a copy of the latest update from DCPS to the Murch School Improvement Team here. The Murch community is grateful to the project managers at DCPS and DGS, the construction team at MCN Build, and the architects both R. McGhee & Associates and Hord Coplan Macht for their continuing hard work this year to see that the renovation and expansion project remains on-track and meets the needs of the students and staff of Murch for the future.

Missed the video at the Auction?

Elizabeth Mettler — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 13:55:04 +0000

Or just want to watch it over and over again? Thanks to the amazing efforts of Tanya and Judd Fischer as well as the cooperation of our always willing teachers, staff and students – we once again have a video to express what is so wonderful about Murch.

Plus, you can get a tour from Mr. C of what’s going on at the “old” Murch and see the construction up close and personal.

So, take a minute…or six and enjoy. Watch it here!

Renovation Update: A Look Inside The Future Murch

Lisa Burke — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 14:07:41 +0000

Rendering of a new Murch Hallway

Check out the latest on the Murch renovation, posted on the DCPS Modernizations web page. DCPS posted two updates this month, as well as the presentation given to the School Improvement Team (SIT) in December. For the first time, you can see a rendering of the proposed building interiors and layouts to get a sense of what the new Murch will look like inside.

You may have noticed that the trailers on the 36th street side are finally gone. The project has received the Building Civil (BCIV) approval and there have been some machine deliveries in advance of excavation, which is expected to start in the next two weeks. Work also will begin soon on the temporary, construction curb cut on Ellicott Street, as the old Davenport entrance has already been torn up. With the building underway, design of the grounds is progressing. The project team met with the Murch Student Council on January 17th to get their input on playground equipment. It’s great that the team is involving the Murch kids in this process!

Finally, click here for the latest drawings, which will be presented to the Public Space Committee in February.

Stay tuned for more updates! If you have any questions questions or comments, reach out to Lisa Burke, SIT Chair.

(De)construction Begins!

Martha McIntosh — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 15:29:43 +0000

Many community members have noticed increased activity at the Murch @ 36th Street site. From the outside you can only see small developments, such as the construction offices set up in the Kaufman Wing and the removal of the basketball and soccer goals. But on the inside, demolition and abatement work has begun! Below is just a sample of what is happening inside as work gets underway.

If you haven’t already, please take some time to check out the exciting plans for the new Murch and other updates on the modernization and expansion of Murch! You can see the latest updates here.

Photo courtesy of DCPS.

Builders have arrived–Murch@36th Street!

Amy Mack — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 15:42:20 +0000

Construction will begin at Murch@36th Street! MCN Build, the contractor on the project, has begun securing the property. Demolition of the trailers and abatement work will take place over the next couple months as the plans for the new Murch move forward! This means that the playground now will be closed through construction. While we are sad to lose the community space, we are excited to begin watching as Murch finally gets modernized!

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Mayor's Budget Still Underfunds Murch Renovation

Martha McIntosh — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 15:48:23 +0000

Mayor Bowser released her Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal on Thursday, March 24. The budget proposal includes $78 million for the Murch modernization, which still leaves the project $10 million underfunded for the design that was developed last year. In an email to Murch HSA and SIT leaders, Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles stated, “I have carefully reviewed this matter and feel confident that the planned facility will be one that provides a great physical environment.” A letter from Deputy Mayor Niles to the Murch community can be viewed here. The Murch SIT and HSA responded to express disappointment in the decision, stating, “We have heard repeated promises from you, the Mayor, DCPS, and DGS that the District will build a great school for Murch with the current budget. But without enough space, they have not shown us that it is possible.”

The Mayor chose not to fully fund the cost of the original project, in spite of making a commitment to invest in school modernizations and adding $220 million to the school modernization budget. You can read more about Mayor Bowser’s proposal to substantially increase funding for school modernizations in The Washington Post coverage from March 25.

At a Community Meeting on the Murch Modernization held Thursday evening, DCPS and DGS staff told the Murch community that they were proceeding with plans to redesign the building to fit the $78 million budget. According to agency officials, they would need to have a commitment of additional funds for the project by May 1, 2016 in order to return to the original plans and still complete the project on time. As soon as DCPS and DGS post a copy of their presentation from the Community Meeting, we will make that available here. The current, redesigned plans for Murch can be seen here, along with a comparison to the original design from October 2015.

Councilmember Mary Cheh told attendees at Thursday’s Community Meeting that she will continue to push for funds that will allow the project to proceed as planned last year (the October 2015 design). Cheh is asking the Bowser administration to find a way to fund the costs of swing space with funds separate from the capital funds allocated for the Murch modernization. Dr. Nathaniel Beers, Chief Operating Officer of DCPS, told the Murch SIT in February that the cost of the swing space would not come out of our construction budget.

Cheh also told the community that at a Council hearing on Tuesday, March 22, she secured commitments from DCPS and DGS to sit down with members of the Murch SIT and the builder to carefully review the estimates and plans for the original design. The goal of the meeting will look for true value engineering options that would not have significant negative impacts on school programming. That would allow the Council and the community to determine a more realistic estimate of the actual funding shortfall. Councilmember David Grosso, Chair of the Education Committee, also requested to participate in that meeting, “to make sure Murch is done right.”

Murch SIT Co-Chair Laura Kaiser and HSA Co-Presidents Maggie Gumbinner and Martha McIntosh testified at the Oversight Roundtable on DCPS school modernizations scheduled for this summer. The roundtable was a joint meeting of the Committee on Education and the Committee on Transportation & the Environment, chaired by Councilmember Cheh. DGS Director Christopher Weaver and DCPS Chief Operating Officer Dr. Nathaniel Beers testified at the hearing and faced many questions about the Murch project and the overall process of planning for school modernizations. The Murch community is very appreciative of the continued support and attention Councilmembers Cheh and Grosso have given to the Murch project. Video of the Council Roundtable is available on the DC Council website.

Unless and until additional funding is secured, DCPS and DGS will continue to seek regulatory approvals for the revised Murch plans. The DC Department of Transportation is scheduled to review the Reno Road curb cut and delivery entrance at an April 28 meeting. The Commission of Fine Arts and Historic Preservation Office will also be reviewing the project in April.

UDC and DCPS Reach Formal Agreement on Swing Space

Martha McIntosh — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 15:41:24 +0000

At a meeting on March 22, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Board of Trustees and DCPS reached agreement on plans for UDC to host Murch for the next two school years. The Murch community is very grateful to the UDC staff and Board of Trustees for their hard work to give Murch students a great space to attend school while Murch’s new building is being constructed.

The formal Memorandum of Understanding between UDC and DCPS will be signed in the coming days. Once that document is signed, we will make more details available to the community, including the full costs of the swing space.

More information about the plan for Murch swing space is available in on Swing Space Questions and Answers page.