Proposal for Wellness Center Dominates Discussion of Scarsdale School District's Building Needs For the Future

What should the Scarsdale High School of the future look like? Well, according to Dr. Michael McGill, Superintendent of Scarsdale Schools, it should be a place that supports more fluid learning, a building with greater flexibility and flow from one setting to another. This, in turn, would support education as it exists today, and is different from what today's adults remember. Today's learning is more student-initiated, student-centered, and student-directed, with much of it happening outside of the classroom.

Last week, Peter Gisolfi of Peter Gisolfi Associates, the district's long-time architectural firm, presented the Board of Education with his vision of how the high school could be altered to better reflect how learning is done today. Although the presentation was billed as addressing the district's physical plants' needs as a whole, district needs outside of the high school were only briefly touched upon; these included as a larger multi-purpose room at Heathcote, an improved library at Edgewood, and improved music facilities at the middle school. Gisolfi's work largely tackled the needs of the high school in the foreseeable future, with the bulk of the presentation was devoted to the idea of a Wellness Center.

Introduced as the replacement for the high school fitness center, a facility admittedly in need of much help, the idea of the Wellness Center grew out of a grant given by the Center for Innovation. A joint project of the high school science, physical education and technology departments, the Wellness Center would be located in the space under the new gym that is currently being used for storage.

In last year's budget, $300,000 was authorized for much needed upgrades to the current fitness center; however, that money hasn't been spent yet as the district decided to wait and explore the much more comprehensive plan put forward in the Wellness Center. How would this new facility differ from the current fitness center? According to Gisolfi, the current fitness center is smaller and split two attenuated space, while the new Wellness Center would be larger, with everything in one space. It would have direct relation to the outdoors with a multitude of windows, and the space is conducive to its purpose.

Stacey Wierl, Fox Meadow's physical education teacher, spoke on behalf of the faculty proposing the new Wellness Center. Wierl said that the faculty looked at this project as a way to enhance students' appreciation of lifelong physical activity and overall wellness. She spoke of a curricular redesign that would integrate critical and creative thinking into the physical education curriculum, and of creating a gender-neutral space that would also integrate room for science labs relating to physical activity, such as offering kinesiology classes with the technology and science departments utilizing lab space in the new center. Wierl also mentioned the opportunity for using the new space for community outreach efforts and as a place to teach about global issues around health, and also as a place available for use by district faculty and staff.

Wierl radiated enthusiasm as she spoke of the project. Faculty involved in the proposal visited similar facilities at West Point and at John Jay High School in northern Westchester. Wierl said that John Jay's facility is well-utilized with all types of people, not just those involved in school athletics.
The financing for such center would most likely come from a bond issue, which would have to be voted on by the community. Linda Purvis, assistant superintendent for business, said this would be the best way to finance it, given the current environment of low interest rates. "With a bond," said Purvis, "work can be done more rapidly with the same impact on the budget. The kinds of projects considered for a bond are generally those that would have a useful life of 10-20 years, and we consider program impact, too." Purvis said that this project is different from those usually presented for plant improvement, "because it's the education people who are making a case for why it's important."

This was not exactly the presentation that audience members were expecting to here. For some, the presentation left more questions than answers. "I voted on the budget last year so that my son, who's a sophomore, would have some working equipment in the fitness center," remarked one audience member following the presentation. "Now they're going to delay the work? This plan sounds nice, but my kid will never benefit from it. What happened to the money that I approved and had my taxes increased for?" Indeed, the idea presented was very broad in scope and seemed more like a "best case" scenario. Board president Liz Guggenheim repeatedly stated during the presentation that they were not looking for pros and cons, just the details behind the ideas, and Dr. McGill borrowed from Churchill as he put the presentation in perspective, saying that it represented "the end of the beginning." Given that the district is beginning its budget process looking at a tax rate increase that will be much larger than in past years, it is unclear how the community will receive the plan and any bond vote that it requires.

The rest of Gisolfi's presentation addressed changes to the high school that would create more common learning areas and would give areas that currently have no relationship to the outdoors, such as internal hallways, more openness. Also under examination are ways to use less energy within the building.
To see the presentation to the Board of Education, click on this link:

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