A Look at Active School Construction in Norwalk and Darien

Across southwest Connecticut, more than $250 million worth of school construction projects are underway. Though these are a sign of progress, districts are facing many challenges in getting some of the projects off the ground.

For some communities, these projects are bringing schools to communities that haven’t had one for decades. In others, the new schools are bringing necessary upgrades to facilities that are falling apart. 

Let’s look at some of the active construction projects across communities particularly in Norwalk and Darien—both the challenges they face and some of the solutions they hope to achieve.

South Norwalk Elementary School

For the first time in more than 40 years, there’s a new school being built in South Norwalk. The goal of the Pre-K through 5th grade building is to provide a community school for one of the most diverse areas of the city that has been lacking that facility. 

"I think Norwalk needs to understand how much this means to the minority community, to see the commitment of a city that cares about the people of the city, that they would invest into a school in the community so that our students can be able to have less time traveling and more time being educated," Rev. Roosevelt Ewell, senior pastor of Canaan Institutional Baptist Church of Norwalk, located in South Norwalk, said at the groundbreaking earlier this year. "This project, this movement have come about from the hard labor of so many in the minority community."   

Current students highlighted the impact this facility will have on future generations. 

"If there was a school in my neighborhood, I could have walked home from school," Lincoln Almonte Martinez, 5th grader at Marvin Elementary School and South Norwalk resident, said at the groundbreaking. "Instead, I have spent 40 minutes each day for six years straight riding the bus. Kids growing up in South Norwalk will soon have a brand-new school in their neighborhood and they will attend with the lucky kids who live near them. They are the lucky ones."  

The school is budgeted to cost $76 million and it received a 60% reimbursement rate from the state to help fund the project. 

Construction officially began on the project this spring. Dan Philips, of the Construction Consulting Group, which is overseeing the school construction projects in Norwalk, said they were “tracking right on schedule for an opening in fall 2025.” 

“Right now we’re in really good shape moving into the buildout of the building,” he told the Common Council’s Land Use and Building Management Committee in September. ‘Budget-wise I think we’re great.” 

The project has had a few moving pieces in addition to actual work on the site. The city has been working to purchase a few neighboring properties on Oxford Street to expand the site and provide more room and access. In addition, the city is also working to reconfigure the street and intersection in front of the school, which is currently tricky to navigate. 

Norwalk High School

About 2,000 students will have a new high school in a few years, with construction officially underway on the new Norwalk High School. 

Philips told the Common Council’s Land Use and Building Management Committee in September that they were hauling off contaminated soil and doing other related site work, including starting the foundations as planned. 

The school is budgeted to cost $239 million and will receive an 80% reimbursement rate from the state, thanks to special legislation from Senator Bob Duff, who is also the senate majority leader. 

"It would be easy to keep the status quo," Senator Bob Duff said at the groundbreaking. "We have great teachers, administrators and staff who persevere and demand excellence despite the challenges of a 1971 learning facility. We have awesome students who work hard and succeed despite leaks, cold and hot rooms, unusable courtyards, a library that is so functionally out of date that some of the middle schools are better equipped and a cafeteria that can't keep up with the student population. Let alone the security challenges that I won't go into.”

However, officials did say that the cost to construct the school might increase slightly. 

In August, Alan Lo, the city’s building and facilities manager told the Land Use and Building Management Committee of the Common Council that he projected the high school would increase by about 4% or just under $10 million. 

Still, officials highlighted how the project would create a “state-of-the-art” learning environment for students. 

“To fulfill our mission of continuing to provide an excellent and equitable education for all students, it's imperative that we create a learning environment conducive to 21st-century demands," Mayor Harry Rilling said at the groundbreaking. 

Hindley, Holmes, and Royle Elementary School Projects in Darien 

Earlier this summer, Darien officials broke ground on the Hindley, Holmes, and Royle renovation projects. The projects, which will include extensive renovations to all three elementary schools, are projected to cost just over $100 million combined. 

“The fact that these buildings here are being renovated and not torn down is a testament to those buildings being built at high quality back when they were constructed,” First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “These buildings are going to last well into the future and provide education for Darien’s kids. 

The plans call for new building wings, redesigning many of the shared spaces like the libraries, improving HVAC systems, and removing portable classrooms. 

“What we do inside of a classroom is a little different,” Jill McCammon, the co-chair of the HHR Building Committee and chair of the Board of Education, said at the ceremony. “We’re looking now at a more individualized experience so we need to right-size many of our classrooms so that kids can meet in smaller groups. We also reconfigured some of the classrooms to provide a few smaller classrooms so we can provide more individualized classrooms.”

McCammon also highlighted that all buildings will have air conditioning and the libraries will be improved.

“What we do in a library is very different,” she said. “We're really thrilled libraries are the third huge component of this project.” 

Construction is actively underway and is expected to be completed by fall 2026.