By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A North Side elementary school is about to get a $4 million overhaul — complementing the housing developments that have begun reshaping the Highland Park community.

Overby-Sheppard Elementary is to benefit from the fast-paced project that is to be completed by Christmas.

Construction workers are to begin moving into the school at 2300 1st Ave. next Wednesday, according to Thomas E. Kranz, Richmond Public Schools’ chief operating officer and soon-to-be interim superintendent.

The school is to be cleaned out first, with teachers packing up their classrooms after the close of the school year on Friday.

All of the items will be moved to Clark Springs Elementary School in Randolph, RPS’ lone spare building, Mr. Kranz said.

In the fall, Overby-Sheppard’s nearly 400 students will attend classes at the Clark Springs building. They are to return to the renovated school in January.

Mr. Kranz said doing the work all at once would save millions of dollars.

He said the only other option was to do the work over three summers at a potential cost of $10 million, an amount that was unlikely to be available.

Teachers and parents unanimously supported getting the work done all at once at a community meeting last Thursday organized by the area’s elected representatives, City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson and School Board member Felicia Cosby.

Mr. Kranz said that the building essentially “would be gutted” and the rooms rebuilt so that all would be about equal size.

In addition, the building will get a fire suppression system, new heating and cooling equipment, improved lighting, upgraded computer wiring and improved restrooms, he said.

Also, the exterior will be upgraded with blue and yellow coverings for the roof to reflect the school’s colors, he said.

The work should make the 40-year-old building feel new when staff and students return for the second semester, he said.

Mr. Kranz said that RPS was able to stretch the amount of work to be accomplished by closely planning with the staff of the general contractor, Daiken Applied Americas Inc., which has a Richmond area office.

The renovation comes as South Side Community Development and Housing Corp. launches its 32-unit subdivision at Matthews Heights, a few blocks south of the school; planning moves ahead for adding single-family homes to the Highland Grove development adjacent to the school; and work continues on additional development to the north of the school along Brookland Park Boulevard.

Ms. Robertson said the school news adds to other positive investments, including the opening of a creativity center for neighborhood teens on Meadowbridge Road.

Improving the Overby-Sheppard building has been a long-standing goal for Ms. Robertson. She spent the past four years pushing for $25 million in capital funds from the city to replace the school. Her plan was to build a new school on the site of the former Virginia National Guard headquarters on Dove Street, now a vacant field owned by the city.

The School Board, which has focused on the greater need for new school buildings on South Side, refused to support that plan. Ultimately, Ms. Robertson backed away from her plan when her City Council colleagues began allocating money for the Overby-Sheppard project to other purposes.

In a compromise, she secured the $4 million for a retrofit of Overby-Sheppard and another $4 million for the continued development of Highland Grove.

Ms. Robertson said she was skeptical about how much work could be done with $4 million but is impressed with the amount of work Mr. Kranz expects to accomplish within that budget.