Akron Ohio News - New Buchtel brightens school days

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New Buchtel brightens school days

8/30/2012 - West Side Leader

By Kathleen Folkerth

The main entrance for the high school wing at Buchtel Community Learning Center features a landscaped walkway.

The middle school wing features a new gym, shown above, while the high school wing has a new auxiliary gym. The high school’s 1983 gym was renovated.

English technology teacher Marprisa Mariner is shown above as she finishes setting up her room in the new school.

The auditorium at Buchtel Community Learning Center includes sound deflectors and 700 seats, according to Akron Public Schools officials.

The cafeteria, shown above, will be used by all students in the school, but younger students will have lunch at different times than the high school students.

Photos: Kathleen Folkerth

WEST AKRON — Some students in the Buchtel Cluster returned to school this week to find a bright new building and a new way of learning.

The hallways of the Buchtel Community Learning Center building feature bright colors on the walls and floors.

The John R. Buchtel Community Learning Center (CLC) opened Aug. 29 for students in seventh through 12th grades in the Akron Public Schools’ Buchtel Cluster. The new building, which separates the younger two grades from the others, replaces Buchtel High School and Perkins Middle School. It was built behind the old high school building on Copley Road.

Principal Sonya Gordon said the change is exciting.

“It’s wonderful coming from where we were; it’s a welcome change,” she said. “When you walk in the building, you’re instantly in a good mood. It’s a cheery place, not dark. It makes you want to be here because of the bright colors.”

The two-story school’s hallways are painted in bold hues of purple, green and orange, and the color scheme is also carried out in the rubber flooring. The entrance to the high school features a floor design of a griffin, the school’s mascot.

During a tour of the building, APS senior project manager Fred Herr said the design of the building was done to alleviate concerns about blending a middle school population with that of a high school.

“That drove the bus,” he said.

The result is that there are separate entrances for the two schools as well as main offices, learning resource centers and parking areas. All grades will share the expansive new cafeteria but eat on different schedules, Herr said.

But Gordon stressed that the school is one community.

“It really is a family support campus in terms of you won’t hear us talk about middle school in a traditional way; it is the Buchtel family,” she said. “We’re changing the face of education and going to set paths for others to follow.”

Highlights of the new building include a new auditorium that seats 700, a new gym for the younger grades and new auxiliary gym for the older students. The Buchtel competition gym built in 1983 was kept and refurbished.

As for classrooms, science rooms have moveable work tables that can be set up lecture style or moved to the sinks around the perimeter of the rooms for science experiments.

In the seventh and eighth grade wing, the art room features lots of natural light and storage, which makes art teacher Annette Economous happy.

“The colors are great,” she said while unpacking supplies in her new room. “I have three sinks; I’ve never had that many sinks that operate.”

Herr said at least 75 SMART boards were installed in the building. There’s also an elevator so the school is Americans With Disabilities Act compliant, he added.

Paul Flesher, APS’ executive director of facilities, said the building was designed to be “green” and officials have applied for the Silver level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

He added that part of the old Buchtel building has been demolished to make the new high school entrance more open. Full demolition is expected to take place in October and November, Flesher said. The school’s existing front lawn will remain a grassy area.

Gordon said there’s more to the changes than just a new building. The school also is using the New Tech model of integrating technology into the classroom.

The change meant that the district posted all the teaching positions for applicants. Gordon said about 50 percent of the previous Buchtel teachers are back.

“We’ll see a lot of new faces,” she said.

Those who were hired underwent training in June and August for the new model of education, she added.

Gordon said she’s heard a lot of praise so far from students and families about the new building.

“They absolutely love the building,” she said. “A lot of the kids are saying they’re so glad it’s not four floors anymore.”

The district plans to dedicate the new building Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. The public is invited.

Gordon said she has big hopes for the new era beginning at the school.

“We’re a school on the move, and people need to start taking notice,” she said.

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