At the January 10 Board - Community Conversation on Facilities Master Plan meeting, many of us discussed the need to bringing School 16 back to the Post Avenue location with several board members.  I proposed a way to leverage a School 10 rebuilding and School 16 renovation without relocating School 10 or School 16 students outside of the Ward again for the duration of the construction work.

The following proposal builds on those discussions:

School 10 and School 16 Proposal
For Rochester's 19th Ward

Here's a proposal that is just coming together based on the many discussions the SW Education Committee has had with residents, teachers, Board Members, the Superintendent and RCSD staff.

First, based on our discussions, we believe that the RCSD should make every effort to foster a return to a neighborhood school model and encourage neighborhood participation. It includes, among others, these important items

• In-neighborhood school feeder pattern busing.
• Early opening with supervised activities so parents can drop off their kids on way to work.
• Supervised afternoon activities until parents pick kids up. (Supervised activities before and after classes can include naps.)
• Continuing education, counseling, and programs to support young parents.
• All day pre-K and kindergarten.
• Free breakfast and lunch.
• Health clinic.

We believe that the number of children in the 19th Ward who would attend neighborhood schools if the above were reality can more than fill all four schools. However, three of the four schools need to be modernized and we face the quandary of how best to accomplish that without disrupting the neighborhood nature of the schools.

We further believe that the "emergency" transfer of students from School 16 on Post Avenue to Freddie Thomas was a mistake that needs to be corrected promptly. We know now that the boys-room smell was not an indication of plumbing/sewage system failure, but a behavioral issue. Remediation of the odors could easily have been fixed before classes began last fall, and the behavioral issues could have been addressed appropriately once school was in session.

Here is a proposal that addresses how to keep our neighborhood children in our neighborhood while effecting modernization or rebuilding of Schools 10 and 16:

• Generate excitement in the community for developing a new model for schools.
• Restore School 16 to Post Ave this fall (2013). Just getting that done will send a message to parents and teachers that the RCSD is listening to us and willing to work with us. Half the battle is getting people to feel like we are all on the same team, that we can learn from one another if we talk, and that there is hope for breaking the cycle of failure people see as inevitable.
• In the next 6 months - in time for next school year - paint the interior walls in School 16, clean and seal the grout in the boys’ room and make sure fans are exhausting properly. Do any other low cost Band-Aids that allow use of the school for the next 5 years.
• Agree to keep the School 10 Expeditionary Learning program in the 19th Ward. We want it.
• Since the RCSD wants to retire the current School 10 building, build a new School 10 building on the southern part of the School 10 lot. Students could continue to occupy Old School 10 while planning and building of new School 10 takes place. This will take us about 5 years to accomplish.
• While New School 10 is being built, decide whether to refurbish, replace, or do some combination of the two for School 16. Work out the details with full neighborhood participation.
• Build New School 10 as a two-story building with a green roof that will serve to keep air conditioning costs down, provide urban agriculture training to the students, and provide a secure community garden space to help draw the community into the school. Design the south-facing wall to capture winter sun for solar heating advantage. Other walls should be of an attractive design appropriate for the 19th Ward. The sketch in the first picture shows a two-story proposal that would get us over 1½ times the floor space of the current one-story School 10.
• Whether part of current School 16 is kept or not, it should become full two stories at its current location and incorporate as much as possible a similar green roof and solar south wall as School 10. Besides being a great draw for neighborhood involvement, the green features should allow us to get some additional State and Federal monies we otherwise would not be eligible for. It may also provide more leverage to get state approval for using the modernization monies for building new.
• When New School 10 is ready, move students from Old School 10 into it.
• Move School 16 students to the old School 10 building for the duration of the School 16 reconstruction. This could be as little as 1 to 2 years if all planning is done ahead of time.
• When New School 16 is ready, move students back to it.
• Part or all of the Old School 10 can then be torn down. If necessary part of the building can be kept temporarily, if needed, for support services.
• Possible bus loops are shown for both schools.

Salvage as many of the architectural elements as possible from the old buildings for the sake of historical preservation. Cherishing our history helps students develop a sense of respect for the things around them and for those who came before them.

• At 16 we should be able to incorporate the front entrance into the new construction.
• At 16 the attractive southern stairway windows/wall would be nice to preserve.
• A teacher has also suggested saving the stage from the auditorium and the fireplace mantel from the library of 16.
• At 10 the northern main entrance is probably worth preserving perhaps as an archway into a playing field.

...................School 10 lot.......................................................................School 16 lot............................................

Excellent teachers and curriculum are of course needed, but the establishment of a welcoming school environment is a prerequisite to allow teachers to teach and students to learn at their best.


John Boutet
January 15, 2013