School Board Blog » DWFMP http://www.leous.org/blog My thoughts on school district issues. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:56:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 What’s in a Name? http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/12/23/whats-in-a-name/ http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/12/23/whats-in-a-name/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:34:59 +0000 Jim http://www.leous.org/blog/?p=61 One of the first issues which we were asked to vote on at the December 7 meeting was the name for the new elementary school on the Panorama/Mt. Nittany site.  Several suggestions were made and the board consensus seemed to be Mt. Nittany Elementary which would make it similar to the Park Forest Middle School/Park Forest Elementary situation on that site.  Board member Dorothea Stahl came up with a great idea of letting the students from Panorama Village and Boalsburg Elementary vote on it.  We came up with three names for them to choose from: Mt. Nittany Elementary, Brandywine Elementary — named for Brandywine Drive, and Panorama Elementary.

The board was informed just before the December 21st meeting that the winner was Mt. Nittany Elementary (MNE).  Congratulation to the students and staff at both schools for turning this around so quickly.  Thanks also to Dorothea for being a strong advocate for this process.  What a great idea to get the students involved in the naming.  As a member of the District Wide Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee, I look forward to a brand new Mt. Nittany Elementary School.

]]> http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/12/23/whats-in-a-name/feed/ 0 Historic Renovation http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/04/22/historic-renovation/ http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/04/22/historic-renovation/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:26:54 +0000 Jim http://www.leous.org/blog/?p=15 Here’s an interesting opinion by JoDee Dyreson from Monday’s Centre Daily Times about historic renovation and Lemont School in particular.  She makes some good points.  I think Ferguson Township School is also a candidate for a historical renovation.  These are the kind of details that a design firm will have to take into consideration when these projects start moving forward.

]]> http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/04/22/historic-renovation/feed/ 0 DWFMP Steering Committee http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/04/02/dwfmp-steering-committee/ http://www.leous.org/blog/2009/04/02/dwfmp-steering-committee/#comments Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:40:55 +0000 Jim http://www.leous.org/blog/?p=9 I’ve been participating in the SCASD District Wide Facilities Master Plan
Steering Committee for the last 6 months.  I’m very impressed with Dr. Bill DeJong and his team at DeJong Associates and the way that they’ve included community input at every phase of the plan.  Dr. DeJong and his team are very experienced and the district has benefited from their knowledge and inclusive methodology.

On Wednesday, we had our eighth meeting of the Steering Committee and over the course of two and one half hours, worked our way through almost 15 recommendations.  I’m pleased with what we’ve come up with.  It represents some very good compromises and hours of thoughtful discussion.  The plan will now go forward to the School Board at a work session on April 20.  I believe the recommendations provide a broad framework for moving forward over the next 10-15 years, without locking the School Board into decisions which are not supported by the community or the economic circumstances.

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