The Observation Deck

Grant...

















Download the pdf here:
http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/media/docs_1410821310.pdf

Lincoln...





















Download the pdf here:
http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/media/docs_1410821275.pdf

Roosevelt...

















Download the pdf here:
http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/media/docs_1410908557.pdf

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Looks good. I especially like how they are putting in a student dropoff/pickup driveway at Lincoln.

Is that an outdoor basketball hoop on the Grant site plan?

Is there an elevator for special needs people included in the multi-floor designs?

Thanks for posting this - I was at the Grant meeting but not the Lincoln one, it's nice to see how the designs compare. Both plans seem to be an improvement on the traffic flow issues (I've never had a kid at Lincoln, but looking at the existing site footprint they seem to have just as bad a traffic layout as Grant did).

Gary - I don't know about Lincoln, but Grant is designed with two stairways and an elevator - I'd imagine an elevator is mandatory with ADA laws.

At the High School elevators are necessary as an income generator for upperclassmen.

Yes - the Lincoln plans include an elevator.

Roosevelt Added To Original Post...


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The buildings appear to offer/support a variety of opportunities:

Scott Meeson wrote:The buildings appear to offer/support a variety of opportunities:

Nice

Turn out was low in the unveiling...


Grant meeting


Roosevelt meeting


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A message from Christine Gordillo regarding the new schools:

"Please note that architect Rodwell King is at different stages of the design plan for each of the schools. Your input is welcome. You can contact King at the email listed on the School Construction page."

Here's Rodwell King's email from that page to save you time:

Rodwell King, Lead Architect
GPD Group
rking@gpdgroup.com

There is a lot more info on the School Construction page, including frequently asked questions and contact emails and phone numbers for everyone involved. Here's the link. Check it out.

http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/cont ... px?cid=818

If you have any questions or issues or suggestions regarding our elementary schools, the District is listening. NOW IS THE TIME.

Betsy Voinovich

So glad Roosevelt is going to switch the dropoff/pickup line to Athens. As a work-from-homer for the last 14 years, I will not miss waiting for someone in the pickup line to notice that I need to get out of my driveway. I will also not miss people who sit in the line blaring music with rolled down windows.

Any news on the high school plans? So far it looks like we're building schools for the education of the past. Lots of rows, rectangles, and teacher's desks up front. Seemingly little thought to what a classroom looks like if it's connected to the web, or if students progress at pace instead of grade-level, or if we design co-curricular projects that'd involve more than 30 students in a given space at once. When asked at the meeting for the Grant school unveiling why these schools weren't designed around concepts that we know are emerging in schools all over the world, I was told, basically, that nobody had asked for a school meant for the future. So we're going to get what we asked for. The question, in my mind, is what are we asking for?

It's time that Lakewood City Schools develops a clear mission based on student learning. We won't get this, of course, until we start asking for schools that serve our children, and not schools that reflect what we would have wanted as children in the 1980s.

Take a look at Clark Hall in Gahanna, or the plans that Mentor is developing regarding their blended learning initiative. The current school plans being brought forward in Lakewood are woefully behind these projects that are either already built or approved for construction this year.

http://www.gahannaschools.org/Schools/Lincoln_High_School/ClarkHall.aspx
http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20140910/mentor-schools-plan-for-new-blended-online-learning-initiatives

It's time for a bit of honesty regarding our district's direction. If we wait too long to start this conversation, we're going to lose our reputation as being one of the most forward-thinking and innovative districts in the state.

We need a strong vision, strongly annunciated, and developed in conjunction with the public. Do we have that? Are these school plans evidence of a vision for education?

I believe that the self-directed independent learning experience is not so much an "emerging trend", but one that has been underway since 1907 in the methodology of Maria Montessori, and others like her.

I would hope that everyone reading this will PLEASE take a moment to read about the Montessori system of learning, and the history behind it.

As a retired Special Education teacher, whenever I could do so, I modeled my classroom on self-directed learning, due in part to the wide differences in the needs and abilities of the children in my classroom. As I usually had smaller numbers of students, this sort of thing was sometimes easier to do. When students are able, in an non-threatening, non-time conflicted environment, to learn at their own pace and in their own way, wonderful things can happen.

Sometimes of course, learning does need to be directed and focused. There are times when we do need to prepare students for deadline awareness, working together, and goal orientation.

Self-directed learning is not always the answer. It's just another tool in the toolbox of a successful educator.

I too would hope that, with new schools, will come new (and old!) methods for learning that will work for ALL children. The key is having available that big toolbox of educational tricks of the trade. Let's keep that toolbox filled!

(Honestly, the above points made, I do believe that our Lakewood schools are probably better than many others in meeting the eclectic needs of a great variety of learners)

All just my opinion here....

Back to the banjo...

Sean,
The points you make are interesting, but I guess what I am not understanding is, what does that type of school 'look' like? The building plans have nothing to do with how a classroom is setup or structured within the rooms. I guess I don't understand what it is that you would change about it to make it more conducive to the type of learning you are talking about. At the meeting you brought up (I'm guessing it was you, but I might be wrong) other spaces aside from classroom space, for other projects or group work. Grant will have additional classrooms, more than is needed, so there will be empty rooms available to be used in other ways. Plus there are included some smaller rooms meant for small group work as well. I'd like to know what it is that you would do differently.

Amanda