To: Jack O. Banta, Bridgeport City Council, Denese Taylor-Moye, Bridgeport City Council, Marcus Brown, Bridgeport City Council, Kyle Piché Langan, Bridgeport City Council, Jeanette Herron, Bridgeport City Council, Thomas C. McCarthy, Bridgep...
Classical Studies Magnet Academy: One School, One Building
Classical Studies Magnet Academy (CSMA), a public PK-8 magnet school, has been suffering from being divided between 2 buildings one-half mile away from each other for four years, and it is time that the City of Bridgeport find a suitable building to bring all of the students, teachers, staff, administration, and parents together under one roof. CSMA has found the perfect location for their home, 238 Jewett Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06606.
Bridgeport City Council needs to approve a grant application by Bridgeport Board of Education and provide investment funding so that the Board of Education can purchase and renovate 238 Jewett Avenue for CSMA. The students of CSMA deserve to learn in a secure environment with sufficient space and resources to allow for their best possible academic and social achievement.
Bridgeport City Council needs to approve a grant application by Bridgeport Board of Education and provide investment funding so that the Board of Education can purchase and renovate 238 Jewett Avenue for CSMA. The students of CSMA deserve to learn in a secure environment with sufficient space and resources to allow for their best possible academic and social achievement.
Why is this important?
Dear Bridgeport City Council Members:
We, the parents, administration, teachers, staff, and supporters of Classical Studies Magnet Academy (CSMA), are asking for you to put the issue of the City of Bridgeport supporting the Board of Education & Bridgeport Public School District acquiring a new building for CSMA to be joined in one physical location on your agenda. We specifically request that you vote “YES” to the Board of Education applying for a grant to comprehensively assess the renovation needs of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport administrative building at 238 Jewett Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06606 and “YES” to the investing $1.2 million for the purchase of 238 Jewett Avenue for CSMA.
CSMA is a PK-8 magnet school that is currently split between two buildings: Main Building, 240 Linwood Avenue, housing grades 3-8 & Annex Building, 659 Beechwood Avenue, housing grades PK-2. The Main Building is owned by the Board of Education, and the Annex is leased from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport. The school’s academic theme is project-based education that incorporates Socratic Seminar. Quoted from Principal Helen Giles’ School Message, “[The educational approach promotes] active learning wherein students are the knowledge seekers. They have opportunities to engage in rich discourse regarding topics they are learning about. [CSMA] provides an education based on high expectations for all children, striving to provide a world-class education while cultivating and nurturing world-class citizens.” Our ultimate goal is to support and raise the academic achievement of our children, and this in part requires a suitable physical learning environment.
It was approved for CSMA to expand into two buildings in 2013 when it received approval by the Board of Education to increase its student body from grades K-6 to PK-8. The division of students and staff between two buildings, separated by .5 miles and 4 streets, was originally intended to be a temporary situation. However, approaching 5 years later, the City has not outlined any concrete steps to unify the school into one building.
CSMA needs to be one building, together as one unified school. It is currently the only school in Bridgeport suffering from the challenges of a physically separated administration, educational team, and student body. Parents are strained by having to drop off and pick up siblings in multiple locations and sometimes having to choose between attending events for one child over another since school assemblies must to held on different days between the two buildings.
In addition to being in one building, CSMA needs to be in a newer, more updated facility. The Main building at 240 Linwood Avenue, the former Maplewood School, is the oldest building presently in operation by the Bridgeport Public Schools. The age of the building contributes to the poor temperature regulation and ventilation, insufficient space for certain classes and activities. The Annex building at 659 Beechwood Avenue also has structural challenges, with ceiling leaks, cracked wall tiles, and poorly sealed windows. The building cannot accommodate a proper library, and there is no real gymnasium.
238 Jewett Avenue is the only realistic and reasonable option for the relocation and unification of CSMA:
238 Jewett Avenue has adequate space for the entire current student population, with room to expand. This administrative building was formerly Notre Dame High School and St. Catherine School for Girls, therefore the property is already zoned for a school. The building is large enough to satisfactorily accommodate space for academic, social/emotional, and health/wellness support services, as well as for enrichment classes such as library, physical education, music, and art. It will also provide space for parent meetings and engagements. The grounds surrounding the building are spacious enough to build playgrounds and to use for other recreational activities.
CSMA is a project-based magnet school that holds multiple exhibits, and assemblies each month. Adequate space is necessary for students to endeavor into their educational exploration and to set up their projects/presentations for fellow students, parents, and invited guests. Renovations in the 238 Jewett Avenue building will allow for needed technology updates that the current 659 Beechwood Avenue & 240 Linwood Avenue buildings cannot support. This need also holds true for general assemblies school-wide events, where crowding easily becomes a complication.
The location of the building is sufficiently distanced from other local schools, and it will not disrupt the local school zone distribution. As a magnet school that receives students from all over the city and has the specific theme of being project-based, parents must consciously select for their children to attend and commit be actively engaged in ensuring their children keep up with the rigors of the curriculum. Relocating CSMA to an area that is too close to other local schools or transferring the school to an already-occupied school building that would displace students from their current zoned school will have potentially negative lasting effects on the community. Students may then need to be bussed to the next closest school or conversation may arise to change CSMA from a fully lottery-based magnet school to a partially zoned-magnet composite school. The latter would not be fair to parents or students to attend a school with a special zone-based because some local parents may not wish their children to attend, or may not be able to keep up with the academic demands.
As a magnet school receiving students from the entire city, the majority of students are bussed. There is sufficient space on the grounds of the 238 Jewett Avenue property for the school buses to load and unload students off of the public street. Presently traffic becomes obstructed at both locations as 5 school buses wait in line. There is also pa...
We, the parents, administration, teachers, staff, and supporters of Classical Studies Magnet Academy (CSMA), are asking for you to put the issue of the City of Bridgeport supporting the Board of Education & Bridgeport Public School District acquiring a new building for CSMA to be joined in one physical location on your agenda. We specifically request that you vote “YES” to the Board of Education applying for a grant to comprehensively assess the renovation needs of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport administrative building at 238 Jewett Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06606 and “YES” to the investing $1.2 million for the purchase of 238 Jewett Avenue for CSMA.
CSMA is a PK-8 magnet school that is currently split between two buildings: Main Building, 240 Linwood Avenue, housing grades 3-8 & Annex Building, 659 Beechwood Avenue, housing grades PK-2. The Main Building is owned by the Board of Education, and the Annex is leased from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport. The school’s academic theme is project-based education that incorporates Socratic Seminar. Quoted from Principal Helen Giles’ School Message, “[The educational approach promotes] active learning wherein students are the knowledge seekers. They have opportunities to engage in rich discourse regarding topics they are learning about. [CSMA] provides an education based on high expectations for all children, striving to provide a world-class education while cultivating and nurturing world-class citizens.” Our ultimate goal is to support and raise the academic achievement of our children, and this in part requires a suitable physical learning environment.
It was approved for CSMA to expand into two buildings in 2013 when it received approval by the Board of Education to increase its student body from grades K-6 to PK-8. The division of students and staff between two buildings, separated by .5 miles and 4 streets, was originally intended to be a temporary situation. However, approaching 5 years later, the City has not outlined any concrete steps to unify the school into one building.
CSMA needs to be one building, together as one unified school. It is currently the only school in Bridgeport suffering from the challenges of a physically separated administration, educational team, and student body. Parents are strained by having to drop off and pick up siblings in multiple locations and sometimes having to choose between attending events for one child over another since school assemblies must to held on different days between the two buildings.
In addition to being in one building, CSMA needs to be in a newer, more updated facility. The Main building at 240 Linwood Avenue, the former Maplewood School, is the oldest building presently in operation by the Bridgeport Public Schools. The age of the building contributes to the poor temperature regulation and ventilation, insufficient space for certain classes and activities. The Annex building at 659 Beechwood Avenue also has structural challenges, with ceiling leaks, cracked wall tiles, and poorly sealed windows. The building cannot accommodate a proper library, and there is no real gymnasium.
238 Jewett Avenue is the only realistic and reasonable option for the relocation and unification of CSMA:
238 Jewett Avenue has adequate space for the entire current student population, with room to expand. This administrative building was formerly Notre Dame High School and St. Catherine School for Girls, therefore the property is already zoned for a school. The building is large enough to satisfactorily accommodate space for academic, social/emotional, and health/wellness support services, as well as for enrichment classes such as library, physical education, music, and art. It will also provide space for parent meetings and engagements. The grounds surrounding the building are spacious enough to build playgrounds and to use for other recreational activities.
CSMA is a project-based magnet school that holds multiple exhibits, and assemblies each month. Adequate space is necessary for students to endeavor into their educational exploration and to set up their projects/presentations for fellow students, parents, and invited guests. Renovations in the 238 Jewett Avenue building will allow for needed technology updates that the current 659 Beechwood Avenue & 240 Linwood Avenue buildings cannot support. This need also holds true for general assemblies school-wide events, where crowding easily becomes a complication.
The location of the building is sufficiently distanced from other local schools, and it will not disrupt the local school zone distribution. As a magnet school that receives students from all over the city and has the specific theme of being project-based, parents must consciously select for their children to attend and commit be actively engaged in ensuring their children keep up with the rigors of the curriculum. Relocating CSMA to an area that is too close to other local schools or transferring the school to an already-occupied school building that would displace students from their current zoned school will have potentially negative lasting effects on the community. Students may then need to be bussed to the next closest school or conversation may arise to change CSMA from a fully lottery-based magnet school to a partially zoned-magnet composite school. The latter would not be fair to parents or students to attend a school with a special zone-based because some local parents may not wish their children to attend, or may not be able to keep up with the academic demands.
As a magnet school receiving students from the entire city, the majority of students are bussed. There is sufficient space on the grounds of the 238 Jewett Avenue property for the school buses to load and unload students off of the public street. Presently traffic becomes obstructed at both locations as 5 school buses wait in line. There is also pa...