Students, staff, and dignitaries left their mark on the new Gladstone Street Elementary School last week with a special beam-signing event. Using an array of colored markers, they signed their names on a large steel beam that will be placed above the principal’s office of the new school and has been painted white so it can always be easily identified.

Beam signing events are a tradition in construction industry and typically mark the completion of the steel framework for a new building. The new Gladstone Street School is expected to be completed early in 2026 and the special event celebrated the progress that has been made so far on the approximately $83 million project, with its framework now in place.

“While much of the planning and preparation for a new building is done at conference tables and meetings, the steel beams, although eventually covered by the walls, are truly the framework of the building that ensures its strength and support,” said Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse as she thanked everyone who has worked on the project. “Today’s signing event shows our strength as a school district and community with our support for these important school construction projects.”

The new school, which will house Grades K through 5, is being constructed on the same hilltop site where the original Gladstone Street School stood. The old school, which was built in 1952, was determined to be in need of costly repairs and renovations and was demolished at the end of the 2022-23 school year. The new three-story school building will cost approximately $83 million and will have a capacity of nearly 800 students.

The construction project is on-schedule, and the special signing event reflected the effort that has gone into making the process inclusive for the school community, according to school officials. Because students who would normally be attending Gladstone Elementary have been temporarily relocated to the Daniel D. Waterman and Chester Barrows Elementary Schools during the construction period, the beam was transported to both locations for students and staff to sign.

A host of dignitaries were also in attendance including Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins, Rhode Island Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Lisa Odom-Villella, City Council and School Committee members, legislators, and members of the construction team.

Nota-Masse expressed appreciation for the widespread community support.

“Clearly, it takes a team of people from our students, who helped design their new learning spaces, to the men and women who are on site each day making this dream come to life,” she said. “We are fortunate to have hundreds of people working together to build our new Gladstone School.”

School officials have said that funding for the new school is coming from allocations from two bond issues: a $147 million building bond approved by voters in 2020, and a $40 million bond question approved in June of this year.

The new school will be approximately 105,000 square feet — about 40,000 square feet larger than the old school and, according to renderings, will be bright and airy with ample natural light. It will feature traditional classroom space as well as open learning areas and smaller spaces for tutoring or one-on-one learning.

The building project is managed by Jacobs, a national architectural and engineering firm; the design was created by Finegold Alexander Architects of Boston; and the construction contractor is the Gilbane Building Company of Providence.

The Cranston School Department has kept the public informed about the project by posting details — including construction updates, photos, and architectural renderings — online at https://sites.google.com/view/cpsbuildingprojects/home.

Editor’s Note: Barbara Polichetti, a Cranston resident, is a regular contributor to the Cranston Herald and Johnston SunRise. Contact Polichetti at barbarap@beaconmediari.com.