Date: Fri 27-Aug-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JEFF

Quick Words:

school-Cochran-House-Becker

Full Text:

School Bd Explores The Cochran House Option

(with photos)

BY JEFF WHITE

On Monday, August 23, Becker & Becker Associates (B&B), one of the developers

vying for Fairfield Hills, hosted a tour of Cochran House for Newtown school

officials, in an effort for all to promote the possibility of turning the

building into a school for grades five and six.

For Board of Education member Earl Gordon, it was the first time through the

43-year-old building. "It's an interesting proposition," said Mr Gordon about

B&B's planned 5/6 school, "although I think that it is a little difficult to

visualize what the end product will look like."

The tour commenced in Cochran's chapel, the site were B&B proposes to house a

media center that will be at the heart of the new school. From there, the

group preceded through several would-be classrooms, the potential site of the

gymnasium, and down to the ground floor where B&B plans a cafeteria and music

classrooms.

Diane Sherlock, the new middle school principal, has had experience as an

administrator at a 5/6 school in Michigan, and was encouraged with what she

saw during the walk through.

"Overall, I was favorably impressed," Mrs Sherlock said. "I thought that the

building was a really sturdy structure, I thought that the plan to adapt the

space was perfect.

"I think [B&B] really understands what the needs of kids are and plugged them

into their plan. They did a really good job of understanding the needs of a

school," she added.

B&B's Proposed 5/6 School

According to B&B's proposal, two major additions will be made to the existing

Cochran structure. The first addition would jut out from the west face of the

building and house a media center on the first floor, along with a music and

art area on the ground floor.

The second addition would be on the south side of the building, with a

gymnasium on the first floor, and a cafeteria on the ground floor. Students

would have the ability to enter both the cafeteria and the gymnasium from the

ground level.

During the tour, Superintendent of Schools John Reed pointed out that the "H"

shape of Cochran House lent itself ideally to separating classes.

B&B's 5/6 school will consist of two academic wings, or what they call

"houses." In "House A," the first floor will hold ten classrooms, as will the

second floor. This setup will be matched in "House B," for a total of 40

classrooms between the two academic wings.

The two academic wings will create two smaller schools within a larger school.

The plan is for each wing to be mixed with students from grades five and six,

with students staying in their particular academic house during both years.

According to B&B President Bruce Becker, this will give each student the

experience of going to a small school within a large school.

The first floor would also house various administrative and guidance offices

and a nurses clinic.

The second floor would be reserved as the science floor, with classrooms and

laboratories along the corridors.

B&B has designed a large bus loop that will front the school, with the

capability of accommodating up to 25 buses. They outlined a separate parent

drop-off loop on the west side of the building.

B&B has proposed to build four additional multi-purpose athletic fields to the

north of the existing baseball fields.

Favorable Reactions

"What they presented seemed to be some exciting possibilities," said Head

O'Meadow School Principal William Bircher. "What I can say is that from what I

heard, it is certainly something that is worth considering."

It was Mr Bircher's first walk-through, and for the most part, he said he

could not find any problems that B&B did not seem to address.

Indeed, many school officials have recognized various alterations B&B have

made to their initial 5/6 school plans to take into account problems that had

been brought the company's attention.

Board of Education Chairperson Amy Dent, who has previously walked through the

building, said that B&B had addressed undersized classrooms, the location of

special education within the school, and the idea of making the gymnasium into

a gym/auditorium.

"We discussed how the corridors of the building would be moved from the center

to the side of each wing, so that we had natural light in the corridor and

have classrooms of desired proportion," said Mr Becker.

Mrs Dent called the proposed 5/6 school "a more viable option than we had

originally anticipated."

" As far as I'm concerned, it's very feasible to have a school at Cochran

House," said Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Dominick Posca, who has been

through the building five times now. "I like Cochran House. I think it will

make an ideal school structure. Everything can be worked within that

structure."

Still, school officials said they will wait for a decision from the town,

though Earl Gordon feels that the Board of Education will have some say in the

decision. "If this becomes a truly serious option, I think there will have to

be more investigation made by the board about the Watertown Hall option," he

said, referring to another potential site that the board has considered for a

5/6 school.

The tour has left Bruce Becker encouraged, however.

"I was very pleased by the positive reception from the elementary school

principals and the Board of Education," Mr Becker said. "I think everyone was

able to recognize the potential, though it required some amount of vision."

Mr Becker viewed his school proposal as a partnership with Newtown, so B&B

could provide a more cost effective option rather than building a school from

scratch.

As far as how a new school would be paid for, Mr Becker said that a variety of

options could be exercised, from B&B operating the 5/6 school on a turn-key

basis, leasing the school to the town, or selling it to the town outright.

For Amy Dent, the B&B option might be the most sound way of getting a 5/6

school constructed in the time frame that the Board of Education thinks will

be necessary to address swelling student populations.

The fall of 2001 goal for a new school "can't happen with new construction,"

Mrs Dent said.

"It's a very complicated puzzle, and this is just one piece," Mrs Dent said of

B&B's 5/6 school. "It cannot be solved in a vacuum."