Oak Hall School in Gainesville marked a construction milestone in its “Two Spaces. One Vision” campaign on Thursday afternoon, with students, teachers and administrators taking part in a beam-signing event.  

Oak Hall launched the campaign in October 2025 to fund the construction of two new gymnasiums on campus – one for the Middle and Upper School and another for the Lower School.  

Not long after the campaign launched, school leaders, donors and other supporters were putting shovels to dirt, with a groundbreaking for the two gyms held in December 2025. 

The gyms have started to take shape in the months since ground was broken, with steel beams going up at both facilities. And as part of Thursday’s event, students and teachers had the chance to sign their names on steel beams, leaving a lasting mark on the gyms for years to come.  

Lower School students – preschool through fifth grade – and their teachers gathered underneath the covered court to sign their names on a gray steel beam that would be lifted and attached to the Lower School gym. The gym is being built next to the covered court. 

Students had the opportunity to write their names on the beam in Sharpie while donning white or yellow hard hats. 

A similar gathering took place at the site of the Upper School gym and training complex, where seventh graders had the opportunity to sign their names on steel beams. Most of the Middle and Upper School students had already signed their names before the seventh graders. 

The Upper School gym is the larger of the two facilities.  

In an interview with Mainstreet, Karin Montini, Associate Head of School at Oak Hall, said the Upper School gym is roughly 21,000 square feet. The facility will include a lobby, restrooms, three basketball courts and a weight room. 

Montini said the Lower School gym is 6,000 square feet, with one full-size court. She noted that both gyms are built similarly but differ in size.  

According to an October 2025 Oak Hall press release, the two gyms will: 

• Provide enhanced athletic facilities for physical education, team practices and competitions. 

• Serve as multipurpose spaces for school gatherings, performances and community events.  

• Create opportunities for wellness, leadership and collaboration across all grade levels. 

“It’s really such an exciting opportunity for the school. It’s an exciting time for the school,” Montini said. “We’ve been thinking about these projects for a couple of years now. So, to actually see ground broken and beams going up, and have our students being involved, and really start to talk about what the impact of the buildings are going to have on the campus, is such a huge thing.” 

Scherer Construction is doing the work on both gyms. Montini said construction is progressing “close to timeline.” 

“We’ve been pushed a little bit on a few different pieces, but we’re really hopeful to have these both [the gyms] done by close to the start of the next school year,” she said, adding they don’t anticipate the gyms being ready for use by the first day of school but shortly after that. “Pending any weather that might hit over the summer months. I know the [construction] team is really pushing hard to try to have them finished and finalized so we can do a big grand opening and go ahead and get our children in and using the facilities.” 

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.