Rooms are starting to take shape at the upcoming I.J. Holton Intermediate School.

At an Austin Public Schools Board meeting Monday night, the intermediate school’s assistant principal Lynn Hemann updated board members on construction progress and showed photos and renderings side-by-side to demonstrate how the school could look by the time its first classes start in August.

Construction crews are installing windows and laying bricks on the exterior of the building at this point. Inside, a terrazzo flooring — chips of marble or granite set in concrete and polished until the surface is smooth — is being laid by hand. Reinforcement work is being done on a 30-foot signature wall, which will later be decorated and visible from the first and second floors. Workers are also painting the classrooms and putting sheet rock in place.

The Holton school makes widespread use of natural light, Hemann said, especially in the cafeteria and offices. Windows also allow teachers to keep an eye on students in some study spaces from adjacent rooms.

Orientation meetings for I.J. Holton are being held at several schools in the district. Parents may still attend orientation at the following times and locations: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Banfield’s Wood Gym; noon or 6:30 p.m. March 19 at Southgate’s gym; or 11:30 a.m. or 5:30 p.m. at Austin High School’s Christgau Hall.

Snow day will not add to school year

Despite the district reaching its fourth snow day this year, Superintendent David Krenz said it will not need to schedule a make-up day for students to reach a state-required level of classroom time.

“We’re still well over the number of instructional hours,” Krenz said, adding the district would address tacking on school days if enough snow days took place.