Thoughts from the field

In the spirit of the holiday season, we are pleased to share a few messages of gratitude from our team. From all of us at VPCS, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mark Van Pelt: This year I’m grateful for my family and my work family, especially those who recently...

Meet Sheree Stopper, our new Program Finance Manager and a proud San Diegan who knows her way around both a spreadsheet and the California coastline. With nearly two decades of experience in finance, Sheree helps districts make the most of their resources and plan for...

Van Pelt Construction Services (VPCS) was built on relationships and trust. Before founding the company in 1996, Mark and Mike spent nearly two decades in the industry, earning a reputation for delivering great solutions for their clients and partners across...

Each year, VPCS welcomes a group of talented interns who bring fresh perspectives, curiosity and energy to our team. The 2025 cohort has contributed across multiple districts, supporting major campus upgrades and developing new digital tools. In addition to their...

At VPCS, strategic growth has always meant more than simply expanding our project portfolio. This means investing in our team’s development so we can show up stronger for the communities we serve. That’s why we recently set aside time at an all-hands gathering to...

It’s been a busy first half of 2025 at VPCS. While continuing to support our existing district clients throughout the state, we have also had the great honor of adding some new names to our client roster. In recent weeks, four additional public school districts have...

There are two things that keep VPCS busy this time of year: baseball and the summer jam. The first is self-explanatory and comes as no surprise to anyone who’s ever met any of us. We are crazy about baseball, in particular the San Francisco Giants. (Although, as we...

Eric Onick has a lot of fans. There are his VPCS colleagues, who appreciate how he can be counted on to step up and lend a hand, always bringing his wonderful sense of humor to his work. There’s also his brother, who still gets a kick out of being mistaken for him....

The design-build delivery model – in which a single contract covers both the design and construction for a project – is becoming increasingly common in our industry. Design-build does more than just streamline the process. It also enables a collaborative, integrated...

It’s February, which means it’s time for the annual conference of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH). This year, our industry will come together February 23-26 at the convention center in beautiful Palm Springs, collectively honoring CASH at its 46th...

Nicholas Olsen is one of the newer members of Team VPCS, having joined us in October of 2024. And we’re so happy to have him, as he brings valuable facilities management experience from the district side. But Nick is so much more than a construction and program...

As the end-of-the-year holidays approach and we prepare to wrap up another trip around the sun, we want to pause and reflect on both the past and the future. This year has been a busy one at VPCS, as we’ve continued to expand our reach and bring our signature service...

It’s the gratitude season, which always reminds us to take a moment and reflect on all that we’re thankful for. At VPCS, we never take for granted how lucky we are to work with such wonderful people – that includes the good folks here at our own company as well as...

It's no secret that public schools are generally underfunded. That’s true around the country and it’s true right here in California. PreK-12 and community college districts throughout our state are always on the lookout for new funding sources to improve the...

At VPCS, we continue to enjoy steady, carefully managed growth as we approach our thirtieth year in business. Just a decade ago, we had ten active clients. Today, we’re supporting nearly 25 PreK-12 districts throughout California and boast an employee roster of more...

Our longtime friend and once-again member of Team VPCS Marty Militano has a lot of stories to tell – not just about the schools and hospitals he’s helped deliver in his remarkable career but also about what it was like to work and play with “the Van Pelt boys” back...

Green sensibilities are changing the design and construction industries, with new sustainable technologies and innovations getting introduced to project plans at a quickening pace. California schools are adapting to these shifts, driven in part by updated building...

We are so pleased to be ramping up in Redwood City, where we’re serving as both program and construction managers for work associated with Measure S, a $298 million bond passed in 2022 by voters in the Redwood City School District (RCSD). This sizeable effort will...

Mohammed Abu-Mhanna is so much more than a VPCS senior project manager. This multi-talented professional rounds things out with a valuable architectural perspective, international construction and design experience, and an affinity for a certain mode of two-wheeled...

In our industry, this is the season of CASH – the Coalition for Adequate School Housing – and its annual conference, an important event for anyone connected to the school facilities sector in California. We’re eagerly gearing up for another powerful few days of...

January always delivers an opportunity for fresh starts. At VPCS, we’re kicking off 2024 from our beautiful new headquarters, where we’re gearing up for another year of service to a growing list of California’s K-12 communities. Here are just a few things we’re...

The holiday season is here, bringing with it the simple joys of togetherness, reflection and gratitude. At VPCS, we believe one of the greatest gifts is the opportunity to work with and for a group of talented, dedicated people – and we couldn’t imagine better...