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Good News About Good Schools

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Expect ‘time convergence’ at Volusia schools

By Linda Trimble | News-Journal Education Writer

DAYTONA BEACH — The past, present and future of Volusia County schools will come together beginning this summer as East Volusia schools mix traditions with fresh ideas about how schools work best, and sparkling new facilities they´ll occupy for many years to come.

The county´s newest middle school will open on Clyde Morris Boulevard in Daytona Beach next month, drawing heavily on the legacy of a veteran Volusia educator who made his mark as principal of New Smyrna Beach and Spruce Creek high schools.

Farther south along the same road, in Port Orange, 30-year-old Spruce Creek High School has been expanded to house its ever-growing student body. Between the two -- at a heavily traveled intersection near malls, medical facilities and an airport -- a "Hall of History" will line the main entrance of a complex that will replace Mainland High School next spring.

Meanwhile, in New Smyrna Beach, a "redesign" within the existing high school will greet students this year -- while a replacement is readied for 2006.

Here´s a look at some of what to expect when the new academic year begins:

HINSON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Earlier this summer, sixth-grader Amanda James was finding some comfort in starting her middle school career on a brand new campus.

Everyone -- not the just sixth-graders -- will have to learn where things are and get used to the new David Hinson Middle School. That makes the transition a little less scary for Amanda, who liked what she saw on her first visit to the school during the late June tour.

"It´s really cool," said Amanda, who was especially impressed with the gym and the Hinson Hurricanes logo in the middle of its hardwood floor.

"I´m really excited for the kids to come into a new facility with state of the art technology," said Amanda´s mother, Mindy. "And the teachers are so excited to be here."

Several teachers at the new school at 1860 N. Clyde Morris Blvd. volunteered to take pupils and their parents on tours of the new facility this summer. Jason Haight, a sixth-grade reading teacher who transferred from Heritage Middle, was one of them.

He shared the James family´s enthusiasm. "With everything being new and everyone being gung ho about being here, it´s an exciting feeling," Haight said.

Principal Ted Petrucciani, who has spent the last year overseeing plans to open the $22.3 million school, hopes to capitalize on that enthusiasm.

"I really want this to be a community center," said Petrucciani, a former principal of Deltona Middle School. He´s drawing at least part of that philosophy from the legacy of David Hinson, a veteran Volusia educator for whom the new school is named. Hinson died in a 2003 car crash.

"One of my main goals is to make sure that the school reflects the tone at the schools he was at -- schools where kids want to come to school and parents are welcome," Petrucciani said.

Hinson was principal of New Smyrna Beach and Spruce Creek high schools before being promoted to area superintendent in 1998.

After-school sports, golf and tennis clubs that would take advantage of the school´s outdoor courts and cafeteria menus that emphasize healthy eating are part of the plans.

"We´re going to take the approach that a healthy mind and a healthy body translate into academics," Petrucciani said.

MAINLAND HIGH SCHOOL

The bare concrete block walls and pile of construction materials couldn´t keep Lee Phillips and Tom Novotny from envisioning the room where the past, present and future of Mainland High School will intersect.

The unfinished room, to be known as the Hall of History, stands just inside the front entrance of the new Mainland High School going up at International Speedway and Clyde Morris boulevards. It will showcase Mainland memborabilia dating back to the early 1900s.

The new school was expected to open next month, but construction now is scheduled for completion in December. Principal Patsy Graham is planning to switch classes to the new facility next spring after state tests are finished.

Last year´s hurricanes, a concrete subcontractor´s bankruptcy and lack of adequate workers at times to keep the project moving ahead contributed to the delay, said school district facilities director Pat Drago.

While the tab for the project is $47.5 million, Drago said that figure includes $2.5 million donated by Vince Carter, a 1995 Mainland graduate who now plays professional basketball, and about $2 million worth of campus preparation and building demolition costs.

The new gym will be named the Vince Carter Athletic Complex in honor of the basketball player who led Mainland to a state championship and now plays for the NBA´s New Jersey Nets.

Novotny -- a longtime Mainland assistant principal who recently took a new job overseeing construction of the new Mainland, New Smyrna Beach and Taylor high schools -- beamed like a new father as he pointed out features of the new facility.

The main entrance will be off International Speedway Boulevard, instead of Clyde Morris as it is now, with the entire school built around a large central courtyard.

SPRUCE CREEK HIGH SCHOOL

A high school opened 30 years ago is raising the roof -- literally -- this summer.

For the first time since Spruce Creek High School opened, a major addition is under way that´s expected to be ready when classes resume Aug. 8.

It includes 20 classrooms and a new media center, or library. The current media center will be converted into additional classrooms.

The addition gives a lift to the school´s flat roofline on the Clyde Morris Boulevard side of the campus.

Spruce Creek, designed before energy consumption and costs became a major concern, is unique among Volusia schools because it´s built all under one roof and has few windows. It was the first public school in the county to be heated and cooled mechanically year-round.

With 46 portables on campus and enrollment expected to reach nearly 3,000 this school year, Spruce Creek has been struggling with an overcrowded campus for many years. "We are a little city," said principal Tim Egnor.

The opening of the new addition this summer will mean fewer Spruce Creek teachers will have to travel from one classroom to another throughout the day, said assistant principal Kay Kosko.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH HIGH SCHOOL

The replacement won´t be ready until next school year, but that hasn´t stopped plans for changing what takes place within the walls of the old New Smyrna Beach High School.

"We want to go from being a very good school to the best," said principal Carol Kelley, who is spearheading efforts to "redesign" the high school. It´s just one example of a national movement to make American high schools more relevant to the 21st century.

The local project, underwritten by $450,000 in federal grants over four years, is aimed at personalizing students´ high school experience, making academics more rigorous and preparing graduates for the world of work.

"Our dream is when students walk across the stage at graduation they have a plan for what happens next," Kelley said. "We want to give them a vision for their lives."

To accomplish that, the high school will be organized around four "small learning communities" in which a team of teachers will work with a common group of students when classes resume in early August.

Each learning community represents a broad cluster of careers -- biotechnology; engineering and design; digital media and business communications; and public services.

Students will be placed in a learning community based on their interests and everyone in the school will have access to another "global community," where classes in subjects including foreign languages, health, physical education and the arts will be offered.

The idea, Kelley said, is to help students see the relationship between their classroom lessons and their future careers. "We want to be able to answer the question ´why do I have to learn this,´ " Kelley said.

ELSEWHERE

The half-penny sales tax Volusia voters approved in 2001 -- which is helping fund the above projects, was designed to pay for nine new schools, replacements for six outdated facilities and improvements at 30 others.

School officials are still committed to completing the projects and have added several others, but a recent spike in construction costs has them re-examining their building schedule.

A May bid for a Port Orange elementary school that´s scheduled to open in 2006-07 came in at almost $16.9 million. That was $5 million more than the architect´s estimate and $6.2 million more than a school now being built in Orange City from a similar design.

A major addition and renovation project at Southwestern Middle School in DeLand is just about finished as the new school year approaches.

Parking improvements, air conditioning upgrades and flooring replacements have been completed at several other schools over the summer.

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