Walking into school the Monday after April break, Hendrick Bausch, a junior at the Morgan School, noticed a sudden and drastic change to the courtyard in the middle of the school. Little did he know he was viewing a  $42,165 renovation that has been in the works for nearly three years. But why, why now, and where did the money come from? 

The courtyard has been a space open to students since the opening of the new Morgan in 2016. It was designed for students to be able to sit out during lunch and is open during cafe studies, and even for teachers to bring classes. 

However, in recent years, some concerns with maintenance have arisen. “We had rocks fly up and hit some of these windows and crack them, and the mounds in the grass were really hard to maintain,” said principal Kerri Hagness. 

When this issue was brought to Hagness and Superintendent of Clinton Public Schools Maryann O’Donnell almost three years ago, they turned to the Morgan Trust as a means of supporting a renovation within the courtyard. 

The Morgan Trust is an investment fund run by a group of individuals, called trustees, and its main purpose is to fund projects that are not allocated in the yearly school budget. There are four trustees at the moment: Gerry Vece, Mario Lupone, Dave Adams, and Robin French. 

Their positions are solely voluntary, and they receive no money for being trustees on the Morgan Trust account. The

account was set up back in the 1870s when Charles Morgan donated money, and since then has been used for special projects just like this. 

A project like this is not quick and takes lots of time and planning. The proposal was submitted almost two years ago. Since then, there have been countless meetings and discussions to make sure the project pans out completely and successfully.

Gerry Vece, a 25-year trustee member, said, “Mary Ann O’Donnell and Kerri Hagness gave a presentation proposing the project in front of all of us at a meeting. They gave a brief description, then we approved the funding for this project.” 

After the project was approved, Hagness,  O’Donnell, and Gonzalez Carrion were tasked with finding vendors to carry out the renovations. 

Carrion, the director of business and grounds for Clinton Public Schools, was a key person in designing the courtyard. “We tried to do something in the courtyard that was actually for the students to be able to go there and access and use. I worked with a contractor to get some designs on the courtyard, and I came out with the idea about building that wall with the ledge and putting rocks there instead of grass to make it easier to maintain,” he said. 

His job was to collect information about the vendors and work with a contractor for the project. They got three companies to bid on the project, or say they wanted to work on it, then collectively O’Donnell, Hagness and Carrion picked the company they felt was the best fit. After everything was approved, he scheduled the work.

“My goal was to make sure that the work was done when students were not there as much as possible, because I was afraid of the noise. There are a lot of classrooms around, so I waited until that week of April vacation when students and staff were not there,” said Carrion. 

The main renovations only took a week to complete due to the weather cooperating and it going smoothly. The biggest changes are that there is a new stone wall where some grass mounds used to be, and rocks in those tree beds. On the other side, they also leveled out the grass mounds more. There is limited sunlight throughout the day, so where the grass is now is where the most sunlight shines. 

“I think the renovations will be good for the courtyard. It looks nicer, and I’ve already seen a lot of people out here for lunch, especially since it’s been nicer out. I have been eating lunch out here almost every day the past few weeks,” said Bausch.

There were small repairs to the tables and chairs themselves, and additionally, soon there will be some more big planters, and they will be adding some vinyl coverings for the tables, as the main concern right now is that they are too reflective and bright, as they are a silver metal material. 

Improving maintenance was one of the main goals, and these renovations, it will make it a lot easier to take care of. 

“The school purchased an electric mower that doesn’t use gas, so it will be good for the environment and will be a lot easier to maintain the smaller patch of grass. We just need to make sure that the grass can grow after we start mowing every two weeks, and after that, there is little to no maintenance, so it’s sustainable,” said Carrion. 

With a project like this, it takes not just a lot of time and planning but also people. Along with Hagness, O’Donnell, Carion and the Morgan Trust Trustees, some other key contributors were Charles Carey, the Business Manager for Clinton Public Schools, Thomas Smith, the Head Custodian at the Morgan School, and Assistant Principal Christopher Luther.  

“My hope is that students and even staff feel invited to come use the space. I think it adds an element of natural beauty to the school, and I want it to be a really great space for everyone,” said Hagness.