New principal at Janney...how is it going?

[Anonymous]

I heard the one last year was, well, not widely supported. How are things going this year? Thanks!

- Curious Parent Who Is Thinking of Sending Son There Next Year

[Anonymous]

We are a new family this year and we love, love, love the princpal...and the school. She's top notch.

[Anonymous]

she seems OK - - still waiting to see.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

thanks for the responses!

Are you guys worried about the construction and the impact on the kids, i.e. drilling and what-not and how the kids will be able to concentrate? This from a mom whose son will look up at bird flying by the window, and then stay staring!

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am worried but I am hoping that they will do most of the escavation during the summer months and on weekends. Based on the drawing that I have seem there is no way that they can so everying while school is in - they are adding a subground level to the new wing as well as underground parking. These are the questions that I plan to ask to tomorrow's meeting.

[Anonymous]

What do you learn from the meeting last night?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you learn from the meeting last night?

First, the good news, the design is really pretty and assuming they get it done close to the renderings it will look great.

Bads news:

1. They is very little outdoor play space - the principal and the project managers mentioned that the plan for the playground is still being ironed out and that they may move some of the pauground equipment to the soccer field next to the new library (they will be adding a soccer field artificial turf to the back of the school). Great idea in concept, but one of the speakers pretty much admitted that "there is talk that the current soccer field may be " developed at some later date. I got the sense that they were no being completely honest about what land would be avaiable for Janney.

2. The current construction timetable is completely nuts!. The plan is to construct the new building between April and December 2010 and renovate the current building between June and August of 2011 BUT, get this, the school is not planning to use the new builing until the old one is renovated becasue they want to maintain "equity in educational opportunities". So the grand plan is the have this new state of the art building sit empty for 8 - 9 months. The only actual classrooms that will be in the new building will be the PK classes, so this makes no sense to me. Also, I do not understand why the old building cannot be renovated during the summer of 2010 while the new builing is being done. Are construction workers that hard to find?

3. They (as of last night) have no contingency plan in case the children need to move during construction. They seem to think that this "swing in place" place is fail save and nothing at all will go wrong.

Anyway, I hope that it all goes well,. but I am very worried.

[Anonymous]

I was not able to attend last night as I was sick in bed.

A few questions that I was looking forward to learning more about -
I assume the children are staying in the current building while this construction occurs?
What is the outdoor space plan during this phase? (playground equipment? securing the construction zone?)
Did they talk at all about strategies for managing construction related distractions?

and - I must still have a fever and read your posting incorrectly - they are not going to use the new space until the following school year? WTF? Yeah it isn't "fair" to the students who will be left in the older classrooms - is the issue that the building will be ready but they will not have it furnished?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was not able to attend last night as I was sick in bed.

A few questions that I was looking forward to learning more about -
I assume the children are staying in the current building while this construction occurs? YES
What is the outdoor space plan during this phase? (playground equipment? securing the construction zone?) This was not discussed while I was there..
Did they talk at all about strategies for managing construction related distractions? Construction will not be done during school hours,

and - I must still have a fever and read your posting incorrectly - they are not going to use the new space until the following school year? WTF? Yeah it isn't "fair" to the students who will be left in the older classrooms - is the issue that the building will be ready but they will not have it furnished?

Re the use of the new building - The principal said something about not wanting to move classrooms. I can understand that but see no reason why they could not use the rest of the building - the library, the art/science/music labs and the admin space.

[Anonymous]

Re the future of the soccer field. Fight to keep it and you'll succeed. This is a political issue. The land is Janney's. DCPS's own standards (which already require much less outdoor space than local suburban standards do) call for a school of Janney's size to have even more outdoor facilities than it already does. There's no reason on earth that the soccer field should be privatized and taken away from the school. Vote out any politician who champions such an idea.

The hardest part of the battle is already won. It's not going to be an especially appealing site to residential developers with the library already built. And with the school already renovated and expanded, there will no longer be a parent contingent desperate enough to offer up the field as a sacrifice in exchange for new and better facilities.