Greenacres Needs a State of the Art Facility

(This is an opinion piece written by site founder Joanne Wallenstein) I am concerned that Greenacres residents have become so polarized that they've lost sight of what's at stake in the discussion about the future of our neighborhood school. I don't know what the best solution is for Greenacres and for Scarsdale as a whole, but I do know that I am putting my faith in our administration, Board of Education and district architects to figure it out. Whether they decide to renovate or build a new school, I believe the school must be a place that sets new standards for elementary education and includes features that will continue to draw families to Scarsdale.

As a member of this community I need to believe in the people we elected, selected and hired to lead us into the future. Superintendent Hagerman was appointed after a lengthy national search. When Linda Purvis announced her retirement, the district also underwent another thorough search process to identify Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey to head up our facilities and finances. Architects KG&D were retained in November 2013 after consideration of a long list of firms and extensive presentations from the five leaders. The seven board members were each vetted, selected and nominated by Scarsdale's non-partisan School Board Nominating Committee and then elected by residents. After investing so much time and energy in picking the right people to lead we need to back their decisions.

And whether they decide to do an extensive renovation of the existing building or start from scratch across the street, they need to envision an environmentally efficient school that works for the next five years and the next fifty. We can't remedy only what doesn't work today; we need to add new features, flexible learning spaces, and light, inviting facilities that will draw young families to Scarsdale. Learning technology is changing rapidly and we need facilities that can be adapted with the times.

Today's school does not meet state standards, as it was built in 1912, more than 100 years ago. It lacks many of the basic features of other elementary schools in Scarsdale, putting Greenacres families and their real estate at a real disadvantage. Classrooms are too small to accommodate desks for each child, the school has no auditorium and no cafeteria which means that lunch spans three periods and custodians have to set up and take down lunch tables and chairs every day. The school lacks a proper entry where children can be dropped off and picked up, posing consternating safety and traffic issues. The gym, which doubles as a theater and music room, is in original condition. The school needs an entirely new HVAC system and a roof and windows are due for replacement within the next ten years. Sections of the school are dark, gloomy and damp.

If the board needs to factor in parity with other schools when making plans, they can look at what's inside the other elementary schools now and what is being built this year to see that Greenacres is out of step with 21st century facilities. Other schools have auditoriums for performances and ceremonies and music rooms for choral, band and orchestra practice. Quaker Ridge has a cafeteria, Heathcote is set to get a new multipurpose room and entrance canopy to facilitate drop off and pick up. Edgewood will have a new media and research center with a computer lab, multimedia equipment plus small group and flexible space for collaborative learning. Work will begin this summer on upgrades to many district schools, funded in the December 2014 bond, which did not include any improvements for Greenacres.

When the Heathcote School opened in 1954, the glass walls and novel floor plan of clustered classrooms or pods around common rooms drew national attention and won  the American Institute of Architects' 25-Year Award, an award that had been given only once before, to the Rockefeller Center in New York City. The design was progressive at the time and has served the community well in the intervening decades. Today we need to empower our architects and decision makers to dream big and get Scarsdale the same quality of design and innovation the district got for their tax dollars at the time.

At one time or another, we all moved here for the schools. Even those who never used the school system invested in the community because the reputation of the district made the investment in their homes a sure bet. In order to serve those who are here now and attract new residents in the future we all need to agree on a plan that does far more than remedy our current space and HVAC issues. I encourage everyone to put your differences aside, look beyond your own backyards and plan to be best in class, whether it's on the north or south side of Huntington Avenue.