The High School Building Project

Wow!  I have been derelict in my responsibility to write blog posts.  I have never gone a month without writing a post until now.  I will try to do better in the upcoming months.  One of the reasons that I have not blogged as much is because my schedule has started to get more hectic.  This is a result of the natural “rhythm” of this time of year as the District starts to plan for the upcoming year and budget discussions are underway.  However, I do want to discuss one task that has started to carve out a lot of my time lately…the high school building project.  The School Board made a decision last Fall to make needed repairs and renovations to the high school.  This project can be viewed through three different lenses: financial, educational, and maintenance.

Maintenance

               The decision to start a building project at the high school was made because the high school is the largest (and most used) building in the school district.  On almost every night during the school year there are school and community groups using the building for an activity.  In effect, the high school building is the “showcase” building for the school district because there is so much community traffic going through it.  The high school went through a renovation project 20 years ago and that project dealt with items that needed to be addressed at the time.  During that time, the “behind the wall” infrastructure was fine and did not need to be addressed.   However, now we find ourselves in a situation where we must address these issues if we want the building to stay functional.  The piping, electrical, and HVAC are all reaching the end of their useful lives (they have been in use for 40 years).  The School Board’s number one concern is to take care of the infrastructure needs of the building so that the building can continue to service the community safely for another 40 years.  Although the public may not see these repairs, the building will function much more efficiently because these repairs are undertaken.  A large portion of the budget for the renovation will include these repairs.

Education

               This project also comes at a time when education is undergoing a significant change.  The challenge for the school district is to create a learning space that will be flexible enough to accommodate new learning trends.  The future of education will require educational spaces that encourage collaboration between students and students and students and faculty.  In addition, the high school of the future will start to take on a look of a college campus with students coming and going more frequently as their schedules become more flexible.  We also must be cognizant of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) initiatives and encourage our students in these areas with state of the art STEM facilities within our high school.  

Financial

               The school district will be paying off its debt service (from the last building project 20 years ago) in 2015.  Presently, the school district has about 10 mils set aside to pay the bonds from the last building project.  As the old debt “comes off” the books, the School Board has decided to “rollover” some of that into a new debt structure to pay for a project.  The Board has already sold $10,000,000.00 in bonds to start putting money aside for the project. This was done at this level because interest rates are actually better for the school district when you can sell bonds in increments of $10,000,000 or less (it seems counter-intuitive, but that is the way it works). The Construction Manager for the district will share with the Board the estimated cost of the project in the coming months.  The Board will then sell bonds to finance the rest of the project.  Currently, the interest rates are at historic lows in the bond market which is nice moving forward.  Additionally, the school district has structured the bond payment on the new debt to start when the old debt is paid off. 

I will keep you updated on events surrounding the building project as they arise.

Some Thoughts on Student Engagement

Engage, engage, engage, what more can I say about my philosophy concerning outstanding instructional practices.  Actual learning occurs when students (or adults for that matter) interact with their environment in a way that incorporates new and old learning. We can only do this when students are actively participating in their learning.  This is a simple proclamation…putting it into practice is where the fun starts.  Public education is making huge strides in walking away from the “old style” of instructional practices where students sit docilely in their chairs and wait to be enlightened by the all-knowing teacher who is in the front of the room.  I know public education has spent a lot of time, effort, and money to make sure that students are engaged in their learning.  This is not to claim that one instructional technique is better than any other one (for example, I have seen lectures that are interactive and engage students in critical thinking).  Rather, public education is focusing on assuring that students in all of our classrooms have the opportunity to experience meaningful, engaged lessons. 

I am also encouraged by the number of organizations outside of education that are starting to engage public education in helping to meet the goal of engaged lessons in every classroom.  Many of these “edupreneurs” are breaking down walls between public education and private companies.  This is resulting in a creative tsunami in the field of education.  The wave of creative options available for educators to “fill their instructional toolbox” is also coming from organizations that have little formal coupling with education.  The “Maker” movement is a good example of this trend.  I recently shared this excellent Ted talk that gives a short overview of the “Maker” movement.  I am excited that these types of organizations are adding to the creative zeitgeist of education.  We live in a time where we have the opportunity to make education a meaningful experience for all of our children.  Engaging our students in their own learning so they can outshine the adults in creative and divergent thinking will help the students individually and society collectively.  

Staff Member Interviewed by The Huffington Post

I want to congratulate Mr. Larry Cooper for being interviewed by the Huffington Post last week.  Mr. Cooper (who is a physical education teacher as well as one of the school district's athletic trainers) is an officer at the national level for an athletic trainers association.  As such, Mr. Cooper is known all over the country as an expert in student-athlete medical care.  The Huffington Post gathered a panel of experts from around the country to discuss the importance (and necessity) of doing more to protect the health of high school student-athletes.  Mr. Cooper was chosen to be a part of this panel because of his national reputation and his work with Penn-Trafford's student athletes.  The Huffington Post estimates that the interview will be seen by 2.5 million viewers.  Great job Mr. Cooper!!  Here is the link to the discussion.