High school students’ rooms aren’t the only things that received spring cleaning makeovers this break. George Mason High School had a spring cleaning of its own from Monday March 21 to Sunday March 28, when the FCCPS Facilities Team worked replaced 11,000 square feet of flooring in the school.

This includes nine full classrooms, most of the hallway outside the cafeteria, part of the E-wing hallway, half of the senior alcove hallway, and the entire hallway leading up to the girls locker room and athletic training room.

The floors in these specific areas have not only become loose, but also have started to chip, ultimately leaving some hallways without tiling.

“This posed a trip hazard and safety risk to the occupants of the building so we had to do something,” said Seve Padilla the FCCPS Director of Facilities and Security Services.

This issue is nothing new to people at Mason.

“I heard people walk by saying ‘what took them so long,’ ” said sophomore Angela Dilao.

This operation had to wait until Spring Break however, because of the frequent activity that goes on inside of the building during the school year, including weekends.

Another student concern regarding the floors is the color arrangement. Some said they weren’t sure they were seeing right at first. Walking down the hallway outside the cafeteria, the tiles arrangement goes from blue to brown, while the hallway by the senior alcove changes shades of blue. As far as the color goes, Padilla says they chose the closest colors and patterns to what was there before.

After the new floors at Mason, countless ideas arise for future projects for the school, such as replacing the ceilings, sinks and water fountains. Regardless, students and staff are grateful for this step of improvement.
“I think you have to take baby steps. First do the floor and later things that are not as visually appealing. But I think the school is taking baby steps in the right direction,” said senior Raheem Lawal.