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Ground broken for new school for deaf | Delawareonline.com | The News Journal
Good timing is everything, and that was the case with the long-awaited construction of the new Delaware School for the Deaf near Newark.
"This project has started and stopped several times while we waited for the Legislature to release the funds," said Della Thomas, director of the Delaware School for the Deaf, statewide programs and deaf-blind programs.
So Thomas was buoyed to learn -- in her first week on the job in June -- that the construction had received the final go-ahead.
And on Tuesday, she took part in an official groundbreaking ceremony that paves the way for an 18-month project that is designed to help bring the school's students into the 21st century.
"Currently the condition of deaf education nationally is under a lot of fire," said Thomas, referring to budgetary concerns and other reasons. "Schools are closing all over the place, so to have the state invest in deaf education like this is monumental."
The Christina School District operates the Delaware School for the Deaf. But because it is a statewide facility, the state is funding the entire $43 million cost, which includes planning, construction and furnishing.
The current 40-year-old building, also called Margaret S. Sterck, has simply outlived its usefulness for students it serves, currently 129 children who range from birth to age 21.
The school has seen an increasing number of students with cochlear implants, electronic devices implanted under the skin behind the ears.
These students must learn how to hear and develop neurological pathways to the brain, and the school's new technology will help accommodate that.
The current school is no longer adequate to meet the needs of the changing population of deaf and hard-of-hearing students due to limited space, configuration of the existing floor plan, design issues, safety concerns and technological needs, district spokeswoman Wendy Lapham said.
"This [new] building is technology-heavy," said John Marinucci, an education associate for education facilities, planning, construction, operation and maintenance with the state's Department of Education. "It's going to provide them the best possible learning environment."
(2 of 2)
The school will feature interactive whiteboards and amplification systems in each classroom, and it will have distance-learning technology that also will enable video conferencing in-state with parents and others, as well as conferencing throughout the country with other deaf schools.
Perhaps the biggest change will be the addition of an early-intervention center, where infants through pre-kindergarten children will come for testing, instruction and support.
The school is partnering for this with Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, a cochlear implant center.
The new 250-student school -- which will rise up only a couple of hundred feet east of the old one on Chestnut Hill Road -- will feature a 110,000-square-foot main building and an 18,000-square-foot residential facility that will feature two-bedroom units and serve about 36 students, as well as two visiting families, she said.
The current dormitory features one large room lined with beds, so the new arrangement will offer privacy for the first time.
"Kids need their privacy," said Thomas, formerly an assistant director at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
Students also will benefit from a separate gym and auditorium that will be constructed at the new school; the current building has neither.
"In our current building, we've had to share a lot with Kirk Middle School and Jennie Smith Elementary," Thomas said. "We've had to share gym time sometimes with them. We've had to go in and use their auditorium facility."
The 17-acre site also will accommodate an outdoor play area, soccer and basketball fields, and paths leading to educational settings within wooded areas, Lapham said.
Kelli Racca, director of facilities services and acting assistant superintendent in Christina, said grading and other minor work already has started at the site, but the construction project is expected to begin in earnest at the beginning of next month.
The project should be completed by spring of 2011.
"We've been working on this for a good six years, talking about it, getting information together, getting it funded and supported," she said. "It's a big deal, so we're really excited."
A decision on what will be done with the old building is pending discussion and a visual inspection of the site, Marinucci said.
"This project has started and stopped several times while we waited for the Legislature to release the funds," said Della Thomas, director of the Delaware School for the Deaf, statewide programs and deaf-blind programs.
So Thomas was buoyed to learn -- in her first week on the job in June -- that the construction had received the final go-ahead.
And on Tuesday, she took part in an official groundbreaking ceremony that paves the way for an 18-month project that is designed to help bring the school's students into the 21st century.
"Currently the condition of deaf education nationally is under a lot of fire," said Thomas, referring to budgetary concerns and other reasons. "Schools are closing all over the place, so to have the state invest in deaf education like this is monumental."
The Christina School District operates the Delaware School for the Deaf. But because it is a statewide facility, the state is funding the entire $43 million cost, which includes planning, construction and furnishing.
The current 40-year-old building, also called Margaret S. Sterck, has simply outlived its usefulness for students it serves, currently 129 children who range from birth to age 21.
The school has seen an increasing number of students with cochlear implants, electronic devices implanted under the skin behind the ears.
These students must learn how to hear and develop neurological pathways to the brain, and the school's new technology will help accommodate that.
The current school is no longer adequate to meet the needs of the changing population of deaf and hard-of-hearing students due to limited space, configuration of the existing floor plan, design issues, safety concerns and technological needs, district spokeswoman Wendy Lapham said.
"This [new] building is technology-heavy," said John Marinucci, an education associate for education facilities, planning, construction, operation and maintenance with the state's Department of Education. "It's going to provide them the best possible learning environment."
(2 of 2)
The school will feature interactive whiteboards and amplification systems in each classroom, and it will have distance-learning technology that also will enable video conferencing in-state with parents and others, as well as conferencing throughout the country with other deaf schools.
Perhaps the biggest change will be the addition of an early-intervention center, where infants through pre-kindergarten children will come for testing, instruction and support.
The school is partnering for this with Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, a cochlear implant center.
The new 250-student school -- which will rise up only a couple of hundred feet east of the old one on Chestnut Hill Road -- will feature a 110,000-square-foot main building and an 18,000-square-foot residential facility that will feature two-bedroom units and serve about 36 students, as well as two visiting families, she said.
The current dormitory features one large room lined with beds, so the new arrangement will offer privacy for the first time.
"Kids need their privacy," said Thomas, formerly an assistant director at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
Students also will benefit from a separate gym and auditorium that will be constructed at the new school; the current building has neither.
"In our current building, we've had to share a lot with Kirk Middle School and Jennie Smith Elementary," Thomas said. "We've had to share gym time sometimes with them. We've had to go in and use their auditorium facility."
The 17-acre site also will accommodate an outdoor play area, soccer and basketball fields, and paths leading to educational settings within wooded areas, Lapham said.
Kelli Racca, director of facilities services and acting assistant superintendent in Christina, said grading and other minor work already has started at the site, but the construction project is expected to begin in earnest at the beginning of next month.
The project should be completed by spring of 2011.
"We've been working on this for a good six years, talking about it, getting information together, getting it funded and supported," she said. "It's a big deal, so we're really excited."
A decision on what will be done with the old building is pending discussion and a visual inspection of the site, Marinucci said.
Good timing is everything, and that was the case with the long-awaited construction of the new Delaware School for the Deaf near Newark.
"This project has started and stopped several times while we waited for the Legislature to release the funds," said Della Thomas, director of the Delaware School for the Deaf, statewide programs and deaf-blind programs.
So Thomas was buoyed to learn -- in her first week on the job in June -- that the construction had received the final go-ahead.
And on Tuesday, she took part in an official groundbreaking ceremony that paves the way for an 18-month project that is designed to help bring the school's students into the 21st century.
"Currently the condition of deaf education nationally is under a lot of fire," said Thomas, referring to budgetary concerns and other reasons. "Schools are closing all over the place, so to have the state invest in deaf education like this is monumental."
The Christina School District operates the Delaware School for the Deaf. But because it is a statewide facility, the state is funding the entire $43 million cost, which includes planning, construction and furnishing.
The current 40-year-old building, also called Margaret S. Sterck, has simply outlived its usefulness for students it serves, currently 129 children who range from birth to age 21.
The school has seen an increasing number of students with cochlear implants, electronic devices implanted under the skin behind the ears.
These students must learn how to hear and develop neurological pathways to the brain, and the school's new technology will help accommodate that.
The current school is no longer adequate to meet the needs of the changing population of deaf and hard-of-hearing students due to limited space, configuration of the existing floor plan, design issues, safety concerns and technological needs, district spokeswoman Wendy Lapham said.
"This [new] building is technology-heavy," said John Marinucci, an education associate for education facilities, planning, construction, operation and maintenance with the state's Department of Education. "It's going to provide them the best possible learning environment."
(2 of 2)
The school will feature interactive whiteboards and amplification systems in each classroom, and it will have distance-learning technology that also will enable video conferencing in-state with parents and others, as well as conferencing throughout the country with other deaf schools.
Perhaps the biggest change will be the addition of an early-intervention center, where infants through pre-kindergarten children will come for testing, instruction and support.
The school is partnering for this with Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, a cochlear implant center.
The new 250-student school -- which will rise up only a couple of hundred feet east of the old one on Chestnut Hill Road -- will feature a 110,000-square-foot main building and an 18,000-square-foot residential facility that will feature two-bedroom units and serve about 36 students, as well as two visiting families, she said.
The current dormitory features one large room lined with beds, so the new arrangement will offer privacy for the first time.
"Kids need their privacy," said Thomas, formerly an assistant director at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
Students also will benefit from a separate gym and auditorium that will be constructed at the new school; the current building has neither.
"In our current building, we've had to share a lot with Kirk Middle School and Jennie Smith Elementary," Thomas said. "We've had to share gym time sometimes with them. We've had to go in and use their auditorium facility."
The 17-acre site also will accommodate an outdoor play area, soccer and basketball fields, and paths leading to educational settings within wooded areas, Lapham said.
Kelli Racca, director of facilities services and acting assistant superintendent in Christina, said grading and other minor work already has started at the site, but the construction project is expected to begin in earnest at the beginning of next month.
The project should be completed by spring of 2011.
"We've been working on this for a good six years, talking about it, getting information together, getting it funded and supported," she said. "It's a big deal, so we're really excited."
A decision on what will be done with the old building is pending discussion and a visual inspection of the site, Marinucci said.
"This project has started and stopped several times while we waited for the Legislature to release the funds," said Della Thomas, director of the Delaware School for the Deaf, statewide programs and deaf-blind programs.
So Thomas was buoyed to learn -- in her first week on the job in June -- that the construction had received the final go-ahead.
And on Tuesday, she took part in an official groundbreaking ceremony that paves the way for an 18-month project that is designed to help bring the school's students into the 21st century.
"Currently the condition of deaf education nationally is under a lot of fire," said Thomas, referring to budgetary concerns and other reasons. "Schools are closing all over the place, so to have the state invest in deaf education like this is monumental."
The Christina School District operates the Delaware School for the Deaf. But because it is a statewide facility, the state is funding the entire $43 million cost, which includes planning, construction and furnishing.
The current 40-year-old building, also called Margaret S. Sterck, has simply outlived its usefulness for students it serves, currently 129 children who range from birth to age 21.
The school has seen an increasing number of students with cochlear implants, electronic devices implanted under the skin behind the ears.
These students must learn how to hear and develop neurological pathways to the brain, and the school's new technology will help accommodate that.
The current school is no longer adequate to meet the needs of the changing population of deaf and hard-of-hearing students due to limited space, configuration of the existing floor plan, design issues, safety concerns and technological needs, district spokeswoman Wendy Lapham said.
"This [new] building is technology-heavy," said John Marinucci, an education associate for education facilities, planning, construction, operation and maintenance with the state's Department of Education. "It's going to provide them the best possible learning environment."
(2 of 2)
The school will feature interactive whiteboards and amplification systems in each classroom, and it will have distance-learning technology that also will enable video conferencing in-state with parents and others, as well as conferencing throughout the country with other deaf schools.
Perhaps the biggest change will be the addition of an early-intervention center, where infants through pre-kindergarten children will come for testing, instruction and support.
The school is partnering for this with Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, a cochlear implant center.
The new 250-student school -- which will rise up only a couple of hundred feet east of the old one on Chestnut Hill Road -- will feature a 110,000-square-foot main building and an 18,000-square-foot residential facility that will feature two-bedroom units and serve about 36 students, as well as two visiting families, she said.
The current dormitory features one large room lined with beds, so the new arrangement will offer privacy for the first time.
"Kids need their privacy," said Thomas, formerly an assistant director at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
Students also will benefit from a separate gym and auditorium that will be constructed at the new school; the current building has neither.
"In our current building, we've had to share a lot with Kirk Middle School and Jennie Smith Elementary," Thomas said. "We've had to share gym time sometimes with them. We've had to go in and use their auditorium facility."
The 17-acre site also will accommodate an outdoor play area, soccer and basketball fields, and paths leading to educational settings within wooded areas, Lapham said.
Kelli Racca, director of facilities services and acting assistant superintendent in Christina, said grading and other minor work already has started at the site, but the construction project is expected to begin in earnest at the beginning of next month.
The project should be completed by spring of 2011.
"We've been working on this for a good six years, talking about it, getting information together, getting it funded and supported," she said. "It's a big deal, so we're really excited."
A decision on what will be done with the old building is pending discussion and a visual inspection of the site, Marinucci said.