South Perspective View of our new campus!

Phase 2 Begins! Phase 2 includes an elementary wing, multipurpose gymnasium space and the removal of the mobil classrooms!

May 22, 2023: 

Last week the crews continued Trusses, Insulation inside walls, HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Dry Wall! So many teams of workers coordinating to make sure we are ready for students in August. While our children will be enjoying the summer break, Elders team will be continuing a great job!

May 15, 2023: 

As the rain fell last week, the final wall of the MPR went up, insulation in classroom walls went in and drywall and HVAC duct work started getting hung. Wow are things moving quickly! Check out some of the images below.

May 08, 2023: 

While you may only be able to see that three of the four multipurpose room walls are finished and the weather Tyvex barrier has been wrapped around the outside of the building, many more trades have been at work. Please enjoy some of the images from the inside.

April 17, 2023: 

The Elder team is not only working fast but also extremely careful! By the time this picture was uploaded on Thursday, much of the roof trellises were already framed and covered. The inspectors told me that the teams we have on site are quality professionals and always do a great job. That’s quite a compliment!

The views are from the Elementary Hallway just passed the Multipurpose room. Pretty soon we will see the outside windows and doors installed.

April 10, 2023: 

Roof trusses were installed last week, and the Multipurpose room walls began towering overhead! The children all love watching the construction as it happens. Please enjoy some views that we get from the other side of the fence.

April 03, 2023: 

The roof trusses were scheduled to be installed on Friday and many of them made their way up before the wind became too strong to safely continue. While we all are eager to keep the building on schedule, safety is always the number one concern. The Elder team made the right choice to pause until the wind calms down.

March 27, 2023: 

As the snow came down, the walls went up! Thank you to our team at Elder Construction for going the extra mile ensuring we are ready for school in August! The first walls came up right around 8:03 am on Monday morning. That is quick.

This week the masonry work will begin on the multipurpose room. The cement mixing will be done on campus where many of us will be able to watch the process of building our school.

Check out the time laps video of the https://youtu.be/yQozknZzB2Q

March 06, 2023: 

Even when the weather delayed the cement pour on Thursday, the Elder team was busy prepping for the gym. They removed the windows that will be used in another section of the building. It’s impressive how quickly they were able to take the windows out and replace them with a new wall! Check out the pictures.

February 13, 2023: 

Last week the footers for the foundation were finished, without impacting our drive lane! We are fortunate for our partners at Elder Construction who were able to get creative and coordinate a way to finish the cement work without shutting down our Shields entrance. Instead, they were able to fit the pumper truck on the southernmost part of campus and reach the remaining distance, see how far it stretched!

This week, the crew will backfill in preparation for the Multipurpose space foundation pour on Monday, February 20. Another way our partners are working hard to make sure we can both get our school complete but also cause the least amount of impact as possible.

We appreciate our families’ flexibility and understanding as we all continue to grow an amazing community and campus. Check out below for an opportunity to support FCMS with a local partner. 

February 06, 2023: 

On Saturday, the construction crew poured much more of the foundation footers in preparation for the foundation.

January 30, 2023: 

Thank you for your graceful understanding and flexibility Friday! As you can see from the pictures, the Pumper Truck stretched out stabilizing arms that stretched out into all the driveline lanes. Our dismissal would have been almost impossible without your quick action and response.

FCMS certainly has a long history of being creative and flexible, just three years ago, our guides and children would pack up each classroom, every Friday and set them back up in time for children Monday morning. During the beginning and height of the pandemic, our community found creative solutions to ensuring our children continued to learn and grow. Our new campus allows us so many opportunities that we are continuing to fully realize each day. 

January 16, 2023: 

Last week earth work continued. Your children may have mentioned times where the building felt like it was shaking. That is because of the machines compacting the soil to make sure our foundation is strong. Hopefully the ground will pass impaction tests and the rumbling will subside. 

January 09, 2023: 

Construction continues even throughout the cold weather snap we saw. Our crews were hard at work preparing the ground with ground thawing machines to make sure we can stay on track for this upcoming school year. Much of the extra land was removed and corners were reposted. Last week, the old sidewalk was demolished to make way for foundations as the multipurpose space and elementary wing connects to our current building.

Pretty soon, it will be easier to see what is going on from the driveline. 

December 12, 2022: 

Large Machines finally are on Campus! With the construction fencing up and perimeter set for a safe distance, the children will be able to see what it takes to get a building built, in real-time. The building corners have been marked by stakes with orange flags while the access road and future blacktop play area (currently where the modular classrooms are sitting) are marked with stakes with pink flags. It is amazing to finally get a sense of what the new expansion will look like. 

I still remember as a child watching construction projects in awe and developing an appreciation for the hard work. (pictures) Pretty soon thousands of pounds of earth will be moved, piled, and then carried away. Then we will begin setting the foundation. 

July 25, 2020: Construction continues and is quickly coming to the end! The construction crew has been putting in long hours and weeks to make sure our new building is ready for students this fall. Enjoy these photos from the front drive lane to the inside hallway ceiling made of reclaimed Beetle Kill Pine (you can actually see the holes made by the beetles).

June 14, 2020: Even though school is out for the summer construction continues! Our new campus will be ready for our children whenever we are able to come back in session in person. Here are a few photos from the last several weeks. By today, they will all be old and new developments will have already been in the works.

May 24, 2020: Windows were installed last week, and they sure do look amazing! Much of the other work is difficult to see from the outside drive, but it is happening FAST.

A look back at the school from the future playground.

A look down the entryway from the secure vestibule and a peek into the main office.

Inside view from one of the classrooms.

A view that you will see when driving through the drop-off lane at our front entryway.

May 16, 2020: Construction continues! On Friday I walked the building with our architect and construction team to review high and low voltage locations throughout the building. It is pretty amazing to see how quickly things are coming along with this project. Our team shared with me (in private that this is everyone’s favorite). I was impressed with how much natural light comes through the “windows” (scheduled for actual windows to be set-in early next week. Here are a few photos from outside and inside the building! I wonder if any of our children can find the different shapes being made in these pictures? 

May 4, 2020: The work continues to happen very quickly! Elder and crew have continued to be amazing with their construction efforts. On Friday, I walked the site and joked that “At this rate, we could hold classes inside by the end of May!” Obviously, that is hyperbole but if you have watched the progress, it is not too far off. We still anticipate opening in our new campus in the Fall for the 2020-2021 school year!

April 27, 2020: We went from only having the foundation and slab poured last Friday to almost every wall and roof structure up by the following Friday. Elder is continuing to push forward on the construction. They are maintaining best practices for safety and continue to monitor all workers on the project site. Please see the photos showing the walls, roof and beginning of the main entry.

April 18, 2020: A lot of work has been done on our new campus. All underground wiring and underground plumbing are completed. All of the foundation and slabs have been poured. All of the prefabricated walls were delivered on site and the HUGE crane has been putting the walls in place. Walls and the front entry truss started going up on Wednesday and continued through the weekend, with a short break due to the snowstorm on Thursday.

April 13, 2020: Last week and this weekend, construction was going strong. The crews finished with the underground plumbing and electrical work. The slabs for the building were poured on Friday and Saturday. Half of the prefabricated walls were delivered, and a huge crane was setup to get the walls up early next week! Elder informed me on Friday that they are working very carefully to follow the Governor’s Executive Order to the letter in order to maintain the safety of the crews and insure they are allowed to continue working. Crews are to wear protective face coverings and maintain social distancing as possible. They are also continuing to monitor the health of workers as they arrive on site. Below, enjoy the photos showing half of the slab that was poured on Friday as well as the crane lifting some of the walls off of the delivery truck.

April 6, 2020: We want to continue to express our appreciation for Elder Construction and subcontractors who are continuing to put in tireless, but safe, work in order to keep our project on track. Currently they are not expecting impacts to the schedule due to availability of resources and due to the COVID-19 regulations. Last week the crew finished the backfill of the foundation and wiring for the underground portion of the electrical work. This week they are planning on finishing up the plumbing work and pouring the slab!

March 30, 2020: Last week Elder worked with the state to ensure that they were able to maintain safe working conditions for their crews. Because of the supportive approach Elder has with their teams, construction is still underway! They are continuing to monitor safety of everyone on the job site and also making sure to keep on schedule. Last week, they finished the foundation and backfilled. This week, they are scheduled to get the plumbing and electric wiring done, then on to the slab. We heard that as of Friday last week, all of the walls were already framed and ready for install! Wow that’s a lot of work already done. It will not be too much longer before we start seeing everything go vertical.

March 23, 2020: Though we are in the midst of uncertain times, Elder Construction has been continuing to work on the new site. They are following CDC guidelines to ensure their workers and subcontractors are healthy and safe. Each day, any and all workers check-in with supervisors on site to evaluate their ability to work. They have installed hand washing pods on site to encourage increased safety. Last week they finished half of the foundation and are on track to finish the remainder this week. We do not anticipate any negative impact on the timeframe of completion at this point.

March 16, 2020: While our students were busy working hard last week, Elder Construction was also hard at work. They finished compacting the soil for the footings and prep work for the foundation. Very soon, they will pour the concrete and then we will begin to see the initial vertical elements of our new school! We want to send a huge thank you to our crews who are working very hard to make sure our campus is ready and beautiful for our students in August.

March 9, 2020: Last week the crews excavated half of the building pad and compacted the earth to prepare for the footings and then foundation. Fortunately, the soil on site is very good and passed compaction testing on Friday! Those mounds of dirt will continue to build and then be redistributed throughout the next several days as they finish the other sections. Once the pad is poured, it will be much easier to see how much work has been done in the background with framing of the walls is being done off site.

February 23, 2020: The houses came down! Now that the buildings are down, we are set to start getting the foundation of the school poured. Though some of the process has been invisible, our crews have been working in the background framing up walls and working on prefabrication projects to keep us on track!

February 15, 2020: FCMS partnered with Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) to allow its firefighters to use the on-site buildings for training. Passersby witnessed firefighters making entry and exit holes in the roofs and walls of the buildings. It was exciting to watch and we assure you, this was not an act of vandalism, but another opportunity for FCMS to support our greater community!

February 8, 2020: On February 1, 2020, with a beautiful 68˚F break in a Colorado winter and a turnout of 200+ supporters of our school, Fort Collins Montessori School joyfully celebrated the official groundbreaking of its new, unified campus at 1109 W Harmony Rd in Fort Collins.

Thank you all who turned out—and a big thank you to our partner, Elder Construction, for hosting the event. We were honored to have school founders, Poudre School District’s (PSD) School Board President, Christophe Febvre, the PSD Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools, Todd Lambert, and Liberty Commons Principal, Casey Churchill join us for the event.

FCMS friends, families, staff and community members had quite the time throwing shovelsful of dirt and snapping pictures to capture the moment! In addition to dirt flying, kids (and staff!) enjoyed climbing aboard an excavator and a marigold planting project. Students were free to roam the property and visualize where their new classrooms would be.

The new Harmony Campus will combine FCMS’ two existing locations into one and offer space for an additional 60 students. Open August 2020, the first phase includes 1 building just under 15,000 square feet with two playgrounds to support Pre-K through 6thgrade. The design provides open classroom settings with a connection to the outdoors and plenty of natural day lighting. The corridor space allows for circulation and provides areas for additional learning.

For more information, please reference this Elder Construction press release.

January 25, 2020: Our official groundbreaking ceremony takes place this coming Saturday, February 1 from 1:00-2:00p. The property is primed and ready for construction to begin! Last week, our Head of School met with members of the Front Range Community College administrative team to introduce our school and explore potential partnerships. FRCC was very excited to have a new academic neighbor. We discussed multiple possibilities: field trips, going outs, shared spaces, etc.

January 13, 2020: Our new campus is looking very different than it did earlier last month. We have had a few questions about the decision/planning portion of the site plan and how it related to the trees. During the planning phase, our team of architects, construction crew, landscaping consulted with The City of Fort Collins Forestry Division and had them evaluate all of the trees on the 5-acre lot. It was from there that the plan was created to save as many of the existing healthy trees as possible and replace the others. From the beginning, keeping Fort Collins beautiful and clean has been a big priority.

January 6, 2020: Last week we talked about the trees and how are making every effort to keep Fort Collins beautiful. Here are photos from the landscaping crew transplanting 12 of the healthy pine trees. Any others that were not able to be moved will be replaced and cared for properly moving forward.