Back-to-school video tour: renovations at Riverhead High

It’s been a very intense summer for contractors doing renovations at Riverhead High School — and returning students will see the fruits of those labors when classes resume tomorrow morning.

Many areas inside the 40-year-old building got a major makeover this summer, even as the new addition took shape in the front of the building and a new weight room on the northeast corner of the building was completed and outfitted.

Window walls have been replaced, bathrooms have been renovated with new tile and fixtures, the band and orchestra rooms have been redone and the chorus room is scheduled to be finished in October. New ceiling tiles are in place throughout much of the building.

The cafeteria has undergone a dramatic change since school let out in June, with a new block wall enclosing the dining area and separating it from the hallways. A new window wall opens to a refurbished courtyard. The double-hung tinted windows are energy efficient and will be covered with shades that allow filtered light to stream in. This fall, booths and cafe-style tables will arrive, giving the cafeteria “less of an institutional look,” Riverhead School Superintendent Nancy Carney said during a walk-through of the high school last week.

“We’re very excited about everything that’s been done,” Carney said. “It’s all coming together very nicely.”

Work will continue on certain projects during the school year, ramping up again during vacation periods. It is scheduled to be completed next summer.

The improvements are part of a district-wide capital program funded in part by a $78.3 million bond approved by district voters in October 2011, as well as the district’s capital repair reserve fund and its energy performance contract.

“We’re looking forward to a year from now having an entire campus that everyone will be proud of,” the superintendent said.