By Cortney Drakefore and Alana Ransom
BengalNews Reporters
The
building located on 113 Lafayette Ave. will be renovated soon to become the
new West Buffalo Charter School in August 2012.
Renovations
on the former hospital turned apartment building have yet to begin. There are
still tenants in the building.
However, construction workers have been accessing the building to make sure all
permits are in place and promises to have the building complete before the kids
arrive at the new school on August 13.
School leader Andrea Todoro introduces the West Buffalo Charter School:
School leader Andrea Todoro introduces the West Buffalo Charter School:
The school program will focus on developing an exceptional foundation of reading, academic and personal skills that will give students the means to succeed and reach their full potential.
With
high expectations for all students and a rigorous curriculum benchmarked to the
NYS Learning Standards, West Buffalo Charter School is committed to sustaining
a safe, caring, learning community that respects diversity and encourages
strong home, school and community partnerships according to the school’s
brochure.
Todoro has been reaching out to families in the
community since December. The school has been to numerous events, anything involving
kids, said Todoro. They have promoted at the Boys and Girls Club, Head Start
Program, and different community centers in the local neighborhoods. Brochures,
postcards, and applications have been mailed out at community events in the
area. They recently had a lottery of 54 seats and extra students were put on
the schools waiting list.
The
curriculum will be based on the basic English language. Other programs offered
will be art, music, dance, technology, physical education, and computers. The
school has partnerships with the Massachusetts Avenue Project, D’Youville
College, Buffalo Speech and Hearing Center and the Buffalo Philharmonic
Orchestra.
The
Massachusetts Avenue Project will educate students on nutrition and will be
adding a green space most likely by the back fenced-in play area.
“The
goal is to have students harvest vegetable and herbs and use that in the lunch
program so that it will be student grown, student harvested and then used in
their lunch program,” said Jesse Meeder, farm manager of MAP's Growing Green program.
The
school evolved from a literacy intervention curriculum designed by Buffalo
Hearing & Speech Center called, "Language to Literacy,” said President
and CEO Joseph Cozzo of the Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center.
The
school is integrating this “Language to Literacy” program and D’Youville
The
school has plans to be a small-school
learning environment. With a small class size of 18 students and a high teacher
to student ratio, the school hopes to provide more nurturing, individualized
and differentiated student instruction. There will be longer, family friendly
school days and an extended school year of 200 days. They will focus on
language acquisition, building literacy and reading proficiency.
Most
of the community is excited about the changes, while others may feel a little
upset because of having to move out of their living space, Todoro said.
“Feedback
about the new school was positive mostly but the negative only came from people
who had to move,” said Todoro. “People are excited the building is going to be
put to good use.”
The
renovations are specific. Todoro hopes to make the school a place that fits the
needs of the people using it.
“We
have major input with the renovations,” said Todoro. “The landscapers come up
with ideas and bring it to us and we change what we feel will fit best for the
students.”
The school will open August 2012 with 162
students in grades K-2 and will grow every year to K-4, reaching a total
enrollment in three years of 270 students
“I
think it is a good investment. Good investment for the neighborhood, good
investment for the children and it’s really a win-win situation for everybody,”
said Todoro. Edited by Shayna McKie
No comments:
Post a Comment