This summer both Salisbury Middle School and Salisbury Elementary School have undergone a great deal of renovation.

Work completed at the middle school included removal of carpeting, installation of luxury vinyl flooring in classrooms, painting the cafeteria, refinishing the gym floor and installing a new monitoring system.

SES reconfigured the library area, replaced ceiling tiles and grids, painted the cafeteria and the PTO/meeting room, put in place new vinyl flooring and installed a monitoring system.

Salisbury High School had a new monitoring system installed and did not see extensive renovations but classrooms and hallways will still receive a thorough cleaning so the building is ready to receive students when the first bell rings.

You may wonder how a building goes from a construction zone to a fully functioning school with gleaming floors and fully furnished classrooms in the span of a few weeks.

The answer is the hardworking facilities crew under the direction of Director of Facilities Bill Brackett.

Brackett will be the first to tell you his hard working crew is passionate about their work and they take great pride in providing an aesthetically pleasing environment for staff and students to do the jobs of teaching and learning.

Throughout the summer, many outside contractors have been on location completing projects but when contractors leave and the dust settles, the facilities crew springs into action cleaning, scraping and buffing surfaces from floor to ceiling.

Maintenance workers move fluidly between schools doing whatever job is necessary. One day they may clean floors at SES and the next day they may be moving furniture or cleaning the gym floor in the middle school.

Brackett also calls upon crew members with specialized skills to complete in-house projects such as sprucing up the PTO/teachers meeting room and refinishing wooden tables in the art room saving the district money by not needing to purchase new tables.

Improvements to the inside of buildings have been a focal point this summer but the grounds outside of each building must also be maintained on a regular basis. Weeds and grass never take a holiday so grass needs to be cut, bushes trimmed, ball fields dragged and playground areas must be tended to keep the areas around the buildings as polished as the inside of buildings.

Salisbury Township School District Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten had high praise for the facilities crew.

“Our facilities team, led by Bill Brackett, has worked tirelessly this summer to prepare our buildings and grounds for the new school year,” Fuini-Hetten said.

“Their behind-the-scenes efforts ensure our students and staff return to safe, clean and welcoming spaces. I am deeply grateful for their commitment to excellence.”

So the next time you are in any of the buildings for meetings, student performances, community or sporting events, know that there are many unsung heroes who are responsible for creating an atmosphere that gives meaning to the words “Falcon Pride.”