Page 33 - School Planning & Management, October 2017

CASE HISTORIES { REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS }
Team Cleaning Creates Consistency
FORTY-TWO SCHOOLS comprise Aiken County Public School District in South Carolina.
Up until recently, every school approached cleaning tasks differently. Inconsistency in process, products, and training led to inconsistent cleanliness from building to building. So the county set out to make a change.
In pursuit of creating the best environ- ment for students to learn and achieve, Aiken County Public Schools chose to imple- ment a standardized cleaning system based on Team Cleaning with efficient ProTeam backpack vacuums. Blaine Riley, Education Program developer for Augusta Janitorial, has shepherded the transition. He helped blend the styles of Team Cleaning and zone cleaning to maximize efficiency for cleaners during the day.
In a K-12 setting, a cleaner must be present during the school day to clean as
needed. In Aiken County’s hybrid system, those cleaners also tackle cleaning work by area type to stay as productive as possible. For example, an Aiken County day cleaner may clean offices or com- mon areas in a zone concept. They would perform all cleaning tasks within that building, including vacuuming with an upright vacuum. The ProTeam ProForce 1500XP fits on the cart with all the other supplies and works best for Aiken’s zone cleaning approach.
At night, the staff bands together as teams of specialists. There are four types of specialists on a team, the vacuum specialist, the restroom specialist, the light duty specialist, and the utility specialist. They each use highly efficient tools and are expertly trained on a few tasks.
“We’re going to see a reduction in labor costs. But our goal is not to reduce staff. We just want a standardized and efficient
Aiken County Schools streamlined their cleaning process and created consistenct with help from ProTeam and a standardized Team Cleaning system.
approach to cleaning,” says Kip Gunter, the district’s director of Maintenance and Custodial. “This consistency will lead to cleaner and healthier environments for students, enabling them to both learn and achieve more.”
proteam.emerson.com
Preserving History with Pride and Care
FOR OVER 325 YEARS A building has stood on the east bank of the Farmington River.
Once a grist mill, this historic landmark has had the identity of a residence, bou- tique shop, fabric store, bookstore and even a successful restaurant. In 2014, the building and the land were donated to
the Miss Porter’s School — Farmington, Conn.’s premier college preparatory school that excels in academics and athletics. This captivating site would be transformed into the new admissions building.
During the renovation the school saw the importance of preserving the historic features and character. What was once a sea of asphalt parking, the exterior of the site was converted into an arrival garden
and accessible walk by The Berkshire De- sign Group of Northampton, Mass. It was important to find and use materials that would keep the feel of the site and stand the test of time. Unilock Town Hall paver
is utilized in the plaza and walkway areas, which are adjacent to the large lawn area, a destination for school celebrations. Unilock Rivercrest Wall system forms a raised planter filled with shrubs, ground covers and bulbs to frame views of the river. Installation was provided by Starr Contracting, LLC of Avon Conn. With pride and care, the team at Starr incorpo- rated many existing site structures into the whole project, including one of the original mill stones.
This site is an area which will show-
The new admissions building at Miss Porter’s School used Unilock products to help preserve the historical feel of the site while also providing much needed durability.
case and celebrate Farmington’s history for years to come. SPM
www.unilock.com
OCTOBER 2017 / SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 33