Chester Valley Elementary School
The Move to Kennedy
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Transportation
Chester Valley students will be provided school bus transportation from their neighborhood to and from Kennedy, approximately six miles away. The bus ride should be 20-30 minutes each way, depending on the number of stops the bus will make. Existing high school bus stops within Chester Valley’s attendance area will be utilized for students. Daycare sites will also be considered for pick-up and drop-off locations.
All school buses are equipped with video cameras to help monitor student behavior. The district does not provide adult monitors on any of the regular elementary bus routes or bus stops. Parents are encouraged to walk students, especially young students, to and from bus stops. While on the bus, students normally choose to sit with friends while some parents prefer that siblings ride together. Bus drivers have the authority to assign seats.
The district recommends that students use the same school bus stop before and after school. A parent may make special arrangements for before and after-school care. If a students needs to change bus plans, parents must make arrangements at least five days in advance. The request will be approved on a space-available basis.
Staff must provide its own transportation to and from Kennedy.
School programs
Preschool students and staff will be relocated to existing regional sites. Begich Middle School is currently at capacity and does not have room to house the preschool program. With the recent completion of the Alaska Housing project next to Begich, the district anticipates that Chester Valley will reach its capacity. The situation will be closely monitored for any changes.
There are 12-17 students in the On Target program. Those students currently use their own form of transportation to get to and from Chester Valley. The district is looking at other existing sites, such as Muldoon Elementary, to serve Chester Valley students while attending Kennedy.
IGNITE students will continue the program at Ursa Major Elementary during the relocation to Kennedy.
Zone exemptions
Current zone exemptions will be honored, including those for daycare purposes. If a student on a zone exemption does not want to attend Kennedy, that student must reapply for a zone exemption once students return to Chester Valley the following year.
Parent volunteers
Parent volunteers will be welcome at Kennedy anytime.
Chester Valley Remodel
Construction timeline
The construction contractor will begin work after the school is emptied, sometime after May 22. The district anticipates construction will be substantially completed by July 2010.
Construction costs and design
The original design plan was amended based on larger than expected increases in construction costs. The design team was asked to identify possible cost reduction items. The items were prioritizes to have minimum negative impact on delivering the educational program. The prioritized list was presented to district and school administrators. Following an initial selection of items, the list was presented to Chester Valley’s Building Design Committee, which represents both school staff and community members, on Sept. 11. The committee’s input helped guide final decisions, including the decision to include certain items to be covered by additional project funding.
Principles of value-added engineering were used, as were those of life-cycle cost analyses of materials. In order to bring costs down substantially, the quantity of some materials and equipment was reduced; however, the quality was no less than that used in the district’s prototypical schools.
The current building design is centered around educational specifications. Although it would seem that schools could easily meet these ideals, frequently spaces have less net area but still provide sufficient space for program delivery due to efficiencies that allow for smaller spaces. Many older schools were construction under substantially different program specifications, such as much wider corridors than the district currently provides. As a steward of public funds, the district must use its judgment to refine demolition and reconstruction plans to meet a program space’s exact specified square footage. A key element of district decisions is the ability to deliver the educational program without significant compromises.
Classroom square footage
The planned square footage for classrooms is within range of the current educational specifications. Kindergarten classrooms are approximately 1, 110 square feet, near the average for new school construction. Classrooms for grades 1-5 average 893 square feet, approximately 37 square feet below the average for renewed classrooms. Average prototypical classrooms for new schools is 959 square feet.
The district’s new elementary educational specifications, still in draft form, call for the following student-classroom ratio.
- 20 students per kindergarten classroom
- 21 students per first grade classroom
- 24 students per second and third grade classroom
- 27 students per fourth, fifth and sixth grade classroom
Chester Valley classrooms will accommodate those specifications.
Art room
The transom windows for the art room have been re-incorporated into the design.
Storage spaces
Providing adequate storage in individual classrooms is a priority in the school’s design. The district does plan to make efficient use of storage cabinetry. The Design Development stage will address this further. Educational specifications call for 225 square feet of library bookroom storage, the current design provides 441 square feet. The design also provides 446 square feet for P.E. storage and an office for teachers to share.
Other inclusions
Closed-Circuit television is included in the design and budget at this time. Smart Boards are paid for from the furniture/fixtures/equipment (FFE) fund. Expenditures from this budget are mostly determined by the individual school.
If the PTA chooses to provide financial assistance to purchase any additional materials, the group should contact the district’s purchasing and facilities staff. Staff may also help coordinate application of grant money.
Playground
All playground equipment purchased has been installed. Money bars are no longer purchased or installed by ASD. Additional playground equipment cannot be added to the current equipment due to space requirements of the current play area as outlined by the National Playground Institute Safety Standards. If additional playground equipment is purchased by the PTA or other group, a separate playing area must be established with new footings, borders and fill. The playground landscaping and placement of equipment is determined by the landscape architect. Special requests may be made to determine its location in an effort to provide clear fields of view.
Replacing softball backstops will be reviewed in the next stage of design, known as Design Development.
The district will review the terms of the hockey rink grant. The district plans to reuse those items covered by the grand and in usable condition. This includes both the rink enclosure and the basketball hoops. The school PTA may coordinate cost of the basketball hoops if not covered by the grant.
Handicapped parking
Handicapped accessible parking will be provided near the main entry on the west side of the school (Patterson Street).
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