Chainlink fence separates Lincoln Avenue from the Barrington High School property. 

The fence also divides passing motorists from a world of construction: Trenches and holes ran the length of the campus on Sunday morning, Aug. 16, as did a new concrete sidewalk which will serve students arriving by bus for the first day of classes on Wednesday, Aug. 26. 

Four of the town’s six public schools are currently under construction — a $250 million project that includes renovations and additions to Primrose Hill, Nayatt and Sowams elementary schools, and Barrington High School. Chris Spiegel, the owner’s project manager for the district, shared a construction update with the Barrington School Committee earlier this month. Spiegel, who works for LeftField Project Management, said Barrington schools will be open on time. He said they will be clean. He said the floors will be waxed. 

“They’ll be ready to go,” Speigel said. 

He added that additional measures will be in place for when students return, such as dust control, vibration monitoring, and noise control. He said the work zones will be separated from the classroom and learning spaces. He said all workers in the construction sites have had full background checks and will be wearing badges. 

Spiegel said that the construction will be an inconvenience, but he quickly added that the development team was doing its best to make sure that the new and improved schools would be delivered on time and on budget. 

On budget

Spiegel, who lives in town and will have two children in Barrington schools, said he has been very involved in this project. He offered an update on the budget. In June 2025, the total cost estimate was $209,512,592. The newest figure (following a project amendment approval) was $209,507,626. That means the district is $5,000 under budget, Spiegel said. He added that the ability for the team to meet the target budget that was set more than a year ago — having to contend with tariffs, inflation, gas prices and more — was an absolute achievement. 

Spiegel also spoke about project “allowances.” He explained that construction can create additional costs — for example, when work crews need to use a ball field for parking space at a job site, an allowance is established to later pay to repair the ball field. Spiegel said the development team could hold an allowance of around $50,000 to repair the field.

Spiegel said some school improvement projects might have millions of dollars in allowances, but the Barrington school construction project has less than $1 million in allowances. He added that the construction contingency for the project is $4 million.

On time

According to information provided during the school committee meeting, the final completion date for the elementary school projects (Primrose Hill, Nayatt and Sowams) is July 2028, and for the high school it is Aug. 2028. Spiegel said that students will be able to begin taking classes in the new additions even sooner: Nov. 2027 for the high school, and Dec. 2027 for the elementary schools. Spiegel said those occupancy dates will allow for officials to use the holiday school vacation time to move into the new spaces. 

Work under way

Spiegel spoke about the construction that has already started at the schools. 

At the high school, the gas service was relocated, there was underground trench work for utilities, underground piping, and the demolition of the Barrington High School cafeteria and some adjoining classrooms. A massive crane could be seen at the high school in early August.

Spiegel said this month crews will weather-proof the existing building that was exposed through demolition of the cafeteria. He said there will be more gas service work and other utility work, as well as the creation of a temporary kitchen. 

Barrington High School students will use the library as their temporary cafeteria when they return to school this year. (It was not clear what space will be used as the temporary BHS library.) Work that has been taking place inside the school this summer includes the creation of a new Transitions Academy and Life-Skills space, and the temporary cafeteria. Crews also transformed a planning room used by teachers into a temporary kitchen.

At Primrose Hill School, construction on a new drop-off loop is well underway. Spiegel said a new temporary pre-kindergarten playground is being installed in front of the school. (On Sunday morning, Aug. 16, the playground looked nearly finished.) Spiegel said the bus lane sidewalk will be completed this month, and crews will begin prepping for the foundations. It was a similar situation at Nayatt School, Spiegel said.

The worksite at Sowams School was further along. Workers have already started pouring the foundations for the additions. During the Aug. 6 school committee meeting, it was reported that 75 percent of the foundation footings were in the ground at Sowams School. 

Spiegel said the student drop-off at Sowams School was pretty much the same as before construction. He also referenced one change in the plans: He said school officials determined that the space for the temporary playground was in an area with a high water table. Spiegel said officials made changes to mitigate the issue. 

Spiegel also mentioned that the trunks of the trees that had been cut down from the Sowams playground area were set aside. He said the school PTO wanted to use the trunks to make keepsakes for the schoo