Early College signup starts soon
By Jeff Gorman
DOWNTOWN AKRON — The Akron Public Schools District Board of Education announced the registration dates for the new Early College High School at the April 9 meeting.
The school will be a collaboration with The University of Akron that will allow students to take high school and college classes concurrently. A student can earn a high school diploma and an associate’s degree at the same time.
“This program is geared toward students who may not have considered higher education,” said Assistant Superintendent Sue Long.
Students would receive career planning and online support to keep them in the program once they are selected.
Early College students would need to maintain 93 percent attendance and have a C or better in all coursework.
A series of meetings will take
place at the middle schools during the next two weeks.
Students and parents will have the opportunity to apply,
ask questions and learn more about the expectations
of the program. All of the meetings will begin at 6
p.m. They will take place at Goodrich and Goodyear middle
schools April 16, Innes Middle School April 17, Jennings
Middle School April 18, Hyre and Perkins
middle schools April 19, Riedinger Middle School April
23 and Miller South School for the Visual and Performing
Arts April 24.
Long said the students would
be selected in May.
The Early College Program is
funded by a $400,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda
Gates’ KnowledgeWorks Foundation.
Before the school board meeting,
the Joint Board of Review met to discuss the school
reconstruction project. The board got a look at the
new Science, Math and Technology Community Learning
Center. The school can hold 500 students in grades five
through eight. The school will be built as an addition
to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
“I think the building and
the program will attract national attention,”
said joint board member Warren Woolford, director of
Planning and Urban Development for the city of
Akron.
By contrast, joint board member
and school board member Linda Omobien said she didn’t
like the schematic design of the new Rimer Community
Learning Center, located on Manchester Road near Interstate
76.
“I think the building looks
too institutional,” she said. “I would like
to see a pitched roof or something more attractive.”
“It is on budget, and the
form follows function,” replied architect John
Wheeler.
Business Director David James
said cosmetic improvements could cost more money.
“It’s really an extensive
process to decide what the buildings will look like,”
he said. “We are not on a Cadillac or a Lexus
budget.”
The Joint Board approved the
design, with Omobien and Marco Sommerville, Akron City
Council Ward 3 representative, voting against
it. However, the school board voted unanimously against
the same design later in the evening.
Omobien said she would bring
in designs of some schools that she saw around the state
when she was the president of the Ohio School Boards
Association.
Also, The K Co. was awarded a
$12,800 contract for mechanical, plumbing and heating,
ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) work on the
Firestone High School elevator. The contract was delayed
while the company came into compliance with the Joint
Board’s reporting guidelines for minority hiring.
Construction monitor Robert Fisher
said some companies who were found not to be in compliance
were sending their reports to Columbus instead of to
Akron.
The Joint Board also approved
the contracts for the new Glover Community Learning
Center. They went to Great
Lakes Crushing for site work; Jeffrey Carr Construction
for general trades; Continental Office Environments
for furniture; The K Co. for plumbing, mechanical, HVAC
and sprinklers; Novatny Electric for electrical and
fire alarm work; Speelman Electric for technology needs;
and ClarkTel Communications for telephones.
The next Akron Board of Education
meeting is scheduled for April 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the
Administration Building, 70 N. Broadway.
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