Counselor looking to beautify CHS courtyards

With the aid of a $500 grant from the Paul Matthews Foundation and an enthusiastic endorsement from the Canton School Committee, CHS adjustment counselor Donna Bauman is moving forward with plans to beautify the high school’s five courtyards.

Photo courtesy of Canton Public Schools

Bauman, who presented the idea to the School Committee last week, learned of the grant award on the last day of school in June.

Calling it the “Garden’s Gate Project,” Bauman is currently seeking volunteers and hoping to have at least one courtyard completed by November. The courtyards are located outside the gym, library, art corridor, and guidance office.

The School Committee is hoping that local nonprofit groups, such as the Canton Garden Club, Community Club, Beautification Committee, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Norfolk Agricultural School, Blue Hills Vocational School and even CHS athletic teams could help Bauman this year with plants, expertise and volunteer labor.

Since the completion of the high school renovation in 2006, the courtyards have remained dormant. However, Bauman, whose office looks out onto one of the courtyards, did some research and found that the renovation project included engineering plans for each courtyard with instructions for specific plantings.

“This is just a great idea,” said School Committee Chairman John Bonnanzio. “This could develop into what makes this town so great. I firmly believe that the proper aesthetics speaks volumes about the building.”

Committee member Jill Stevens volunteered to serve as liaison to Bauman, and committee member Reuki Schutt agreed to help draft a letter for Bauman to send out to the community.

In other news Thursday night, the committee was very impressed with the new Canton Public Schools website developed by April Goran, the district’s new technology integration administrator, in collaboration with a team of school representatives.

The new website is www.edline.net/pages/CantonPublicSchools and can also be accessed via the old website at www.cantonma.org.

It is reportedly more user friendly and chock full of color photos from the individual schools. It features new information about school community groups, such as CAPE and Music Counts, as well as links to various school departments and each of the five schools, an expanded school calendar and a language translator. The website also contains links to all media stories concerning the Canton Public Schools, and in the future could feature individual teacher web pages.

Meanwhile, School Superintendent Jeff Granatino and Bryan Lynch, the district’s new director of facilities and maintenance, were quite optimistic about the ongoing summer cleanup and stated that all of the buildings will be ready for the first day of school on September 6. The first day for teachers is Thursday, September 1.

Lynch also reported that all of the classrooms in the C wing of the high school that incurred damage from a July 22 water break have been cleaned and repaired.

In other maintenance news, Lynch reported that construction on a four-room addition at the Kennedy Elementary School is ongoing, and a new sprinkler system has been installed. He said a fence will keep construction vehicles enclosed and will not disrupt students or teachers. Granatino said the goal is still to have the addition completed by January or February of 2012.

Lynch also reported that the old heating system at the Rodman building has been removed and the new system will be installed soon. The target date for completion of the project is October 15. He also reported that roofing projects at the Rodman and the high school have been completed.

In other news:

* Granatino reminded the committee that it had previously approved a user fee of $50 and a family cap of $250 for all extracurricular clubs and activities. The committee had asked the superintendent to prepare a detailed report on what extracurricular activities at the Galvin and CHS needed a student fee. Stevens said to her knowledge a CAPT-sponsored activity called “Wheel-A-Bration” paid for all extracurricular activities at the middle school.

* The committee reiterated the school district’s policy regarding the bus user fee, which has been set at $180 per student. Specifically, families will not be eligible for a refund if a student is prohibited from riding the bus for disciplinary reasons.

* Meredith Carey, who served as interim assistant principal at the Kennedy School last year, has been named the new assistant principal at the Galvin Middle School in place of Tom Walsh, who has moved on to another district.

* CHS wellness teacher Katey Swanson was named the interim K-12 wellness coordinator in place of Peter Boucher, who was previously named the interim principal at the Hansen School.

* According to Granatino, Boucher has already made an impact in his new role, as he recently led an effort to install new outdoor basketball courts at the school with the help of staff and volunteers. The project was made possible by an unexpected donation from a parent.

* The next bargaining session between the School Committee and the Canton Teachers Association was scheduled for August 30.

* The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for September 8 at 7 p.m. in the CHS Distance Learning Lab.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Aug 31 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.