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The complications and time-heavy constraints of a construction process were handed to Building Hope to manage, so the educators could focus on educating while the school build zipped along to an on-time completion for their students.
“Communicate your needs to Building Hope, and they will help you to make the best, most informed decision possible.”
~ Gail Williams ~
Director of Operations,
Two Rivers PCS
Two Rivers Public Charter School began as one elementary school campus. In 2009, the doors opened to its middle school in a building large enough to accommodate 150 students just north of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The school’s leaders planned for 50 students in each grade level but as the school got established and word spread, demand and enrollment exploded. Building Hope partnered with Two Rivers for both the elementary and original middle school projects.
“The building that made sense in 2009 soon stopped making sense,” said Two Rivers PCS Director of Operation Gail Williams. “Middle schoolers are not little people anymore, and now they’re right on top of each other.”
By 2018, the middle school’s leaders were in search of a new, single facility that was large enough to hold all its 6th through 8th grade students. That same year, Two Rivers opened a second elementary school campus at D.C.’s historic Charles Young School, on a large hilltop campus with plenty of room to expand, and to build the new middle school facility.
The leadership for Two Rivers knew they needed Building Hope’s expertise and guidance to complete the project. Building Hope was selected to manage the development of the new middle school, which involved renovation of two existing buildings and ground-up construction of a new building. The site required approval from D.C.’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO), so the Building Hope team helped Two Rivers present the project plans at two HPO board meetings and several Advisory Neighborhood Commission meetings.
“Having Building Hope as a partner was so helpful,” said Williams. “They kept the project focused and kept me informed. The construction people would come to me speaking construction language – ‘we have to move this two degrees’ – and I would have to make a decision. The Building Hope team was there to say, ‘Okay Gail, moving it two degrees means such and such’.”
Building Hope helped the new Two Rivers Middle School project finish on time. The school opened for its growing student population in 2021.