HAMILTON — When Garfield Junior High School is renovated into a middle school three years from now, it will lose a grade level but gain space for the 730 to 750 seventh- and eighth-grade students.

        The redesign of the school from a building that houses 860 students in grades 7-9 is continuing on two fronts. Architects Steed-Hammond-Paul Inc. are working on physical upgrades while Principal Dennis Malone is restructuring the education program.

        “Usually when you do something like this, you have to fit the program into the building,” Mr. Malone said. “This time we're talking with the architects who will design the renovations to the program. They have an idea of what we want to do.”

        Classrooms for eighth-graders will be on the second floor with seventh grade classes on the lower level, where the media center will be relocated.

        Each grade will be divided into two or three teams, with each team's classrooms clustered together to cut down on travel through the building. Individual teams will control their scheduling to provide more flexibility, Mr. Malone said.

        The 42-year-old school, originally built as a high school, will be air conditioned and renovated to meet current standards, said architect Todd Thackery.

        “I'm excited and I'm glad we're doing this,” said Mr. Malone, who will be principal of the new freshman school when it opens.

        Remodeling the school is part of a 10-year, $158.9 million facilities plan that replaces 14 aging elementary schools with nine new buildings, closes George Washington Junior High and takes ninth graders out of the junior high schools and puts them into a freshman school. It will be built on a 30-acre site at West Elkton Road and Northwest Washington Boulevard.

        Classrooms will also be added to Hamilton High and Wilson Junior High.

        About 59 percent of the Renovation is expected to begin next summer at Garfield and is estimated between $9 million and $11 million, Mr. Thackery said.

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