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April 2007
Major makeover at Central High
Posted Wednesday, April 4, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
Students change classes in a new corridor at Central High where the decor uses the school colors: black and gold.
The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman
PROVIDENCE — Central High School is truly a tale of two cities. There is the old Central of narrow corridors, dim lighting, leaking roofs and grossly inadequate lab space. And there is the new Central — bright, airy, climate-controlled and equipped with latest technology.
The city’s biggest high school is in the middle of a $30-million, multi-year renovation, the larg-est in the school district’s history. For years, Central was the poster child for urban neglect, plagued by archaic plumbing and electrical systems, poor ventilation, wildly fluctuating temperatures and outdated science labs.
Three years into a massive overhaul, the contrast between the old and new sections of the building is stark. The renovated classrooms are flooded with light from new windows; the temperature is kept an even 70 degrees and the rooms — and corridors — are surprisingly quiet, thanks to the acoustic ceilings. The hallways are wider and the lockers have been expanded to hold today’s oversized backpacks. Even the colors are vivid and welcoming: the walls are a soft yellow; the new floors are a varying pattern of gold and black, the school’s colors.
But the true impact of the renovations can’t be felt until you step into the new gymatorium, with its 30-foot ceilings, gleaming hardwood floors, restored 1920s-era stage and Art Deco-inspired gold and black color scheme.
The once-closed upper balconies have been turned into a gymnasium, complete with treadmills and Stairmasters, a weight room, new lockers and a dance studio.
“It’s a unique balance between old and new,” said Angelo Petrocelli, the project manager for Gilbane, the contractor. “We have preserved the original moldings around the windows and doors, but replaced the hardware.”
The theme of the new Central High School is “the new learning environment,” a building that has an atmosphere that is conducive to learning.
After the gymatorium opened, one student told Principal Elaine Almagno, “Hey, Miss. This is like going from the ghetto to the suburbs.”
The first honors ceremony drew a record crowd to the gymatorium, which is a combination of a gym and auditorium. Almagno said students and faculty alike seemed reluctant to leave the new space when the ceremony was over
Although it is difficult to measure the impact of a new facility on student achievement, Almagno said that attendance has increased between 2 percent and 3 percent this year, hovering around 82 percent, the highest it’s been in quite some time.
“Before, the kids were fighting the environment,” Petrocelli said. “Now, it’s clean. It’s comfortable. It’s quieter.”
Anthony DelToro has been a teacher at Central since the 1970s and went to high school there.
“This year,” he said, “I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. I have a view and all this really great sunlight. It’s such a nice environment to work in.”
Some of the things that suburban schools take for granted — such as whiteboards and shades that filter direct sunlight — are far from customary in urban schools such as Central. But now more than a quarter of the school’s classrooms have those little “extras,” and, by September 2008, they all will.
The refurbished classrooms are “smart” rooms because the lights automatically turn on and off and the temperature is kept constant year-round. Climate control is a big deal in a building where teachers had to open the windows in January to cool overheated classrooms.
Nowhere is the difference between old and new more noticeable than in the hallways. The original corridors are narrow and noisy. Because the classrooms are hot, teachers leave the doors open and the sounds of the classroom spill into the hallways, even when they are empty. Meanwhile, every sound is amplified because the old ceilings have nothing to dampen the sound of footsteps or voices.
“I’ve been here 30 years,” said Bill Pare, a biology teacher, “and this is beautiful. Before, we didn’t have sinks. Kids had to wash their hands in the bathroom.”
Gilbane has completed the central wing, which includes new communication and security systems, new mechanical systems, the gymatorium, three new computer labs and 20 classrooms.
Central is in the middle of the final phase of construction, which will include new science labs, a new media center, new classrooms and small-group workspaces. While the majority of classroom space is undergoing renovation next year, ninth-graders will be relocated to West Broadway Elementary School, which is closing.
Central lost its accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in 2001, after refusing to host an accreditation visit. At the time, Central’s redesign team was talking about breaking the 1,400-student building into two smaller schools.
Yesterday, Almagno said the school is no longer looking at creating smaller learning academies similar to what Hope High School did three years ago. Instead, she said the school is considering creating three themed academic strands: business, law and government, and technology. The goal is to reduce enrollment to approximately 1,000 students.
Meanwhile, Supt. Donnie Evans has promised that all of the city’s four high schools will be accredited within the next few years and Almagno is confident that the sweeping improvements will go along way toward satisfying the accreditation process. To date, only Classical High School has full accreditation, but Mount Pleasant and Hope High School have re-applied.
“Absolutely, this will be a great help,” she said. “The learning environment is a critical component of the NEASC process.”
Finally, Central High School will have a new courtyard by the fall of 2008. The broad swath of concrete, typical of the architecture of the 1960s and ’70s, will be replaced by a campus-like setting with grass and shrubs.
Department kicks off campaign for school building plan
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2007
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Providence School Board, still smarting from the ill will engendered by the closing of West Broadway School, is doing everything it can to involve the public in the proposed $792-million school construction project.
Last night, School Department spokeswoman Maria Tocco unveiled a detailed plan in hopes of rebuilding the public’s trust in the school board and Supt. Donnie Evans. At stake is nothing less than the future of the city’s 42 schools, half of which are more than 50 years old. The project, which would be phased in over a number of years, calls for building seven schools during the first phase.
Before the school board approves the broad outlines of the plan by the DeJONG education consultants, it wants to solicit as much public feedback as possible, something it was accused of neglecting during the decision to close the popular West Broadway school in the West End.
Tocco’s public engagement plan calls for creating four community groups from Nathan Bishop Middle School, West Broadway, Feinstein Elementary School at Broad Street and the new career and technical school, to be located on the grounds of Mount Pleasant High School. These groups would tackle the DeJONG report as a whole. Specifically, the public would comment on DeJONG’s list of priority schools, its emphasis on small, neighborhood schools and the speed at which the plan should be implemented.
This information will help the school board decide whether to approve the “guiding principals” of the DeJONG master plan on May 14. The board, however, will not approve specific recommendations on whether to renovate or build new schools during its May meeting.
Assuming the board adopts the guidelines of the DeJONG report, separate community planning committees will be formed to recommend what to do with each of the approximately 16 schools listed for renovation, closing or new construction during the first phase. Each committee will include the school principal, four teachers, four parents, the chairman of the school improvement team, a guidance counselor, three community partners, two neighborhood leaders and two local business leaders. Although elected officials will not be appointed to the committees, they will be informed of their meetings.
The Nathan Bishop Middle School steering committee, which Evans formed in response to the proposed closing of the East Side school, will be the model for these new groups. Ultimately, the committees will make their recommendations to the school board.
During the first phase, the DeJONG proposal calls for replacing Nathan Bishop with a new grade 6-8 school; replacing Mount Pleasant High School with a career and technical school and smaller high school; new construction for George West, Alan Shawn Feinstein, Asa Messer and Laurel Hill Avenue schools; renovating the Hanley Career and Technical Center and creating a new alternative high school for 200 students.
It also calls for closing West Broadway Elementary School, a decision that was bitterly opposed this winter, drawing standing-room-only crowds to the school board’s meetings.
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