NewThe Rundown of Changes in Ferndale Schools Restructuring Plan
(Ferndale Schools, March 18, 2015)
As a result of a comprehensive analysis of its buildings, an extensive engagement to determine the needs of the community, and a review of the most efficient and effective use of the School District’s resources moving forward, the Ferndale Schools Board of Education last night approved a plan to restructure the district. As the guideposts for determining the best path forward for the district, the Board of Education and School Administration used the tenets of Achievement, Sustainably, and Equity that were created as part of the district’s strategic plan.
The plan approved Monday is split into two phases, the first taking place at start of next school year (2015-2016), and the second slated to be implemented in the 2016-2017 school year.
Changes to be made in the 2015-2016 school year include consolidating the Ferndale Schools Administrative offices from the Warren G. Harding Building to Ferndale High School. Then, all district preschool programs will be moved to Harding, creating a single preschool building that would house all of Ferndale Schools’ outstanding early education programs.
The Thomas Jefferson Center, which currently houses the Adult Education Program and the Digital Learning Center (Ferndale’s Alternative high school), will be closed at the end of the current school year, and the two programs will move to a leased space starting next year. The William Taft Building, which most recently housed the DLC earlier this school year, will also be closed permanently over the summer.
Starting in the 2016-2017 school year, Ferndale Schools will begin the restructuring of its current elementary school model. This new configuration will result in a single unified elementary school utilizing Open Classroom principals and a rigorous and pioneering international curriculum.
Ferndale Schools Board of Education President Jim O’Donnell says that this elementary model “offers advantages in educational achievement quality, equity and sustainability and provides opportunities to expand the valued Open Classroom model for the whole district. It also improves the curriculum by adding a strong international component and preserves strong parent volunteerism, student-directed learning, project-based education, outdoor education, focus learning, student peer mentoring, and similar principles of the Open Classroom.”
The new elementary school will utilize two buildings which will house a lower elementary and an upper elementary campus. The lower elementary campus will be housed at the current Theodore Roosevelt Primary School and will be for students in Kindergarten through second grade. The upper elementary campus will be located at the current John F. Kennedy Elementary School and will be for students in third through fifth grade. Also as part of this phase, sixth grade students will be moved to Ferndale Middle School starting in the 2016-2017 school year.
The final piece of the 2016-2017 phase will be the movement of University High School from its current location at the Woodrow Wilson building to its new home at the Calvin Coolidge building. The Wilson building would then join Jefferson and Taft as buildings that would be closed permanently within the next two years.
“We are very excited about the great educational opportunities that this restructuring brings to Ferndale Schools. We are able to build upon the tradition of the Open Classroom Program and add the Cambridge International curriculum. Every child in Ferndale will be able to have an eclectic and international education starting in Kindergarten. These are unique offerings that match our unique and diverse Ferndale community,” said Ferndale Schools Superintendent Blake Prewitt.
For more on Ferndale Schools see www.ferndaleschools.org.
To watch the video from Monday’s school board meeting go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7UwpVSRMWo&feature=youtu.be
Previous stories:
https://oaklandcounty115.com/2015/03/17/ferndale-school-board-votes-for-a-unified-elementary-program/
https://oaklandcounty115.com/2015/03/01/ferndale-schools-restructuring-process-continues-meeting-march-9/
https://oaklandcounty115.com/2015/01/28/ferndale-schools-tackling-challenges-with-discussions-on-restructuring/
https://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/07/30/ferndale-schools-big-change-superintendent-blake-prewitt-video/