Wake County Schools presents flipped-site schematic for Briarcliff Elementary in Cary

Wake County Schools staff presented the schematic design for a reconstructed Briarcliff Elementary School in Cary, describing a “flipped-site” approach that would build a new two-story classroom wing behind the existing campus while students remain in the current building.

The design team said the project would nearly double current capacity, add a larger dining patio and outdoor learning areas, and reconfigure carpool and bus circulation to reduce neighborhood traffic. Staff emphasized phasing and community outreach as central to the plan.

Elizabeth (staff member) told the board the design team assessed every building on the Briarcliff site and weighed phasing schedules, costs and disruption before recommending a flip construction so students could stay in place while a new building is built behind the existing campus. “What they decided the most efficient way to handle this project was to flip,” she said.

Alice Reese, senior site planner, and Leah Petruccione, senior building planner, described the proposed site layout and internal plan. Petruccione said visioning sessions with staff, students and parents repeatedly prioritized preserving the large grassy play area and outdoor dining. “They really wanted to keep that outdoor dining and their large grassy play area,” Petruccione said.

Under the schematic, the new building would sit on the western half of the campus and step into the site’s topography to reduce neighborhood impacts. The design adds a dedicated bus loop that climbs the hill to a front entry, separate carpool entry and exit to relieve conflicts, stacked carpool lanes on campus and new sidewalks to improve walker routes from adjacent streets.

The team described a main-level dining patio with natural shading, learning stairs and a lower-level STEM lab and media center. Special-education and Pre-K classrooms would have direct access to outdoor shaded spaces. The architects said many existing classroom buildings are functionally obsolete; the current campus has seven separate buildings added across several renovation cycles, and current enrollment is about 452 students. The proposed plan cited a target new-seat capacity of roughly 716.

Schedule and phasing remain key constraints. The presenters said the critical path is completing the carpool loop during the summer before students return; doing so would allow the new classroom wing to be used in the fall of 2028. The design team noted Cary’s permitting timeline requires ongoing coordination with the town, NCDOT and state erosion-control rules.

Board members asked about past use of the flipped approach and risks during construction. Staff pointed to recent Wake County projects that used a flip model — including West Millbrook Middle and North Garner Middle (in design) — and described strategies for locating temporary athletic fields and coordinating deliveries, fence lines and entry points to avoid learning disruptions.

There was discussion of stormwater controls and neighborhood concerns. A staff member said the current school has no stormwater control and that the new site will provide regulated stormwater facilities, which the design and permitting process will refine with Cary and state regulators.

Staff said architects and the selected construction manager-at-risk team (Ratio, CLH, Clancy and Faze, and McFarland, per the presentation) are already on board for schematic and preconstruction work. The board did not take formal action on the schematic at this meeting; staff said they will continue design development, coordinate required permits and return with further design development materials.

The presentation concluded with staff describing continued community outreach: visioning sessions for students, staff and parents and a neighborhood meeting to explain how construction will be staged and how the district will limit disruption.

The board requested follow-up reporting on permitting milestones, the finalized capacity number and a refined phasing plan that specifies where student play and athletics will occur while construction is underway.