Friday, November 16, 2012

Board Commends Storm Preparations

President David Brashear opened the November Board of Education meeting by praising the District's recent storm preparations led by Assistant Superintendent John Kehoe. Anticipating Storm Sandy, the facilities staff successfully relocated all equipment, furniture, and instructional materials from the first floor of the School. The project involved rapid expansion and deployment of labor services from the District's vendor of custodial services, A+A, and coordination with Morris Moving, which supplied four tractor trailers. The School's food service provider, Chartwell, worked to remove portable equipment and saved food by renting a freezer truck. This enabled the School to resume full cafeteria service right away.  Brashear specifically acknowledged the efforts of facilities supervisor Mike Lee and Mike Peragine, Steve Feaster, Chris Forbes, Miguel Gil, Henry Kendrick, Dan Estrada, and Jarah Aquino. Brashear cited improvements in the preparation process based on lessons learned from previous flooding events.

Superintendent David Quattrone added comments about the positive collaboration between the School and the Village, including opening the school to Village residents during the period of power outage. He also cited several community service projects, including the food drive sponsored by the Bronxville Teachers Association and numerous other direct and indirect efforts at all three schools. Later in the meeting the Board awarded a $2000 bonus for facilities supervisor Mike Lee, based on service above and beyond expectations. Assistant Superintendent Dan Carlin estimated the total cost of preparation between $90,000 and $95,000.


Engaging All Students

At the November Board of Education meeting, Director of Counseling Anne Abbatecola presented a video in which Bronxville students described their journey through high school: how their interests had evolved, the key role played by specific courses and activities, and how they were planning for the future. Several students mentioned elective courses like art history seminar, global seminar, and humanities research. Others mentioned community service, athletics, and participating in the Student Faculty Legislature.

Superintendent David Quattrone said the presentation was meant to open a dialogue about student engagement and how best to extend opportunities for in-depth inquiry to all students. While the district initiative on critical thinking has emphasized curriculum design and instructional strategies, he said it is also important to organize the academic program in such a way that balances advanced placement work with other types of learning experiences. Abbatecola spoke of the role counselors play in helping students to find a direction and take responsibility for their own learning. She reported that next steps include plans surveying the entire senior class and beginning faculty conversations about extending seminar-style courses.

Board members encouraged the School to promote its academic strengths and to communicate with colleges about the richness of our programs. Specific suggestions included conducting a follow-up study with post-graduates and examining the burden of homework.

Renovating School Facilities: Update

After the October bond referendum approving a $10 million capital plan, the District launched a reconstituted advisory committee on facilities, chaired by Board Vice President Jim Hudson. In October the Board of Education approved the roster, which includes architects, Board members, school officials, and public representatives. The committee is charged with monitoring the scope, schedule, and budget for the various projects. Links to the relevant materials, including the committee charge, the roster, and meeting summaries can be found on the District's webpage devoted to the capital plan. This webpage will be updated periodically throughout the course of the project.

The district is now seeking professional construction management services and has issued a request for proposals. Once retained, a construction manager or owner's representative would provide an independent review of the estimated budget prepared by the architect. That work is expected to take place in January 2013.
The next phase of the process, design development, involves the preparation of construction documents.  The design team has reviewed plans with the science faculty and auditorium users to clarify and confirm some of the systems and equipment that will be included.  KG&D architects  expect to submit drawings to the State Education Department this coming spring. The tentative schedule calls for the bidding process to be completed over the summer and construction to begin in the fall of 2013.

Friday, November 2, 2012

After the Storm, School Takes a Step To Restore Normal Routine

The Bronxville School resumed classes today with a delayed start at 10 AM.  Student attendance was excellent (between 80% and 90%, depending on the school), and twelve teachers were absent for weather-related reasons. Students followed an adjusted schedule throughout the day, and food service was fully operational.

Meanwhile, the remaining furniture, equipment, and material that had been removed from the bottom floor are now back in place, and Elementary special education classes and kindergarten classes are scheduled as usual for Monday, November 5.  Next Friday's Superintendent's conference day will be held as scheduled (This day counts toward the state requirement of 180 days. As of now, Bronxville still meets the minimum requirements.)

Superintendent David Quattrone thanked the faculty and staff for their efforts to get to school and expressed concern about the larger community: "As you know, the Village as a whole is still largely without electricity, and the weather is getting colder.  These circumstances were a major factor in deciding to have school today: providing  our students with a warm environment, a hot meal, and constructive activity. We have taken a first step toward re-establishing some kind of normal routine. With so many homes without power, please be sensitive and realistic about assignments. We are extending the first quarter by two weeks."

The School is reaching out to the community in two additional ways.The cafeteria will be open for a few hours tomorrow and Sunday so that residents can have limited wireless access and recharge cell phones and laptops. Beginning Monday we are also making the fireplace room available from 9 to 3 so that senior citizens who lack electricity have a warm place to sit for a while.

Please understand that circumstances may change across the region, affecting our ability to run school.  The availability of gasoline is a major factor at the moment.  We will monitor the situation and communicate with school families through K12 Alerts and on our website.

Photo Gallery of Storm Preparations

Photo Gallery of Storm Preparations