THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408110183
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
ON THE FIRST DAY of school Sept. 7, Ocean Lakes High students may think they've wandered into a shopping mall instead of the place where they'll spend a year studying English, science and math.
That's exactly what the architects had in mind.
The building is light, bright and airy, with huge windows, wide-open courts, two-story ceilings and classrooms with windows opening like storefronts off a long corridor called ``academic street.''
``If I had been an architect and an educator, I would have designed this building,'' said Principal Jerry F. Deviney, who has worked in Virginia Beach schools for his entire 28-year career but has never presided over a new school. ``It really lends itself to being a school.''
Ocean Lakes will be the city's 10th and largest high school. It will have the capacity to hold as many as 2,300 kids, although Deviney said he expects about 1,450 students initially.
It's the second high school set to open in the area this fall. Chesapeake also will unveil its new Oscar Smith High, built to replace an outdated, overcrowded building.
School officials said Ocean Lakes, which will draw students primarily from Green Run, Kellam and First Colonial, is badly needed to relieve crowding.
But the new school hasn't come without controversy.
The cost, which started out around $22.5 million, climbed to nearly $28 million.
School officials last month were forced to ask the City Council for $1.2 million extra for Ocean Lakes when they ran out of money before buying some of the school's computer equipment.
School officials hasten to point out that Ocean Lakes came in below the state average for construction cost per square foot. But the figures only take into consideration the original $22.5 million, not all the extra costs. The final price tag puts the building well above the state's average cost per square foot of $76.63.
In the midst of questions about the expense, reports surfaced that the school's most imposing feature, a flagpole that sits atop a tower on the roof and electronically unfurls the American flag, cost $42,151.
The flagpole was approved by an assistant superintendent who was ousted last November for reasons that were not disclosed.
Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette has called the flagpole expense an ``error,'' and has instituted new procedures for overseeing construction projects.
Principal Deviney is determined to put all that behind him.
``I would sure hate that to interfere with the opportunities we have, and the kids,'' he said.
Besides, Deviney said, he's got a lot more to occupy his mind.
``I feel a lot of personal pressure.
``We have an opportunity to build one of the best schools in the country. We'll never be a new school again. If we get the foundation right, if we build that tradition, we'll have an opportunity to do that.''
He's gotten teachers involved in the action with committees that are brainstorming ideas and setting guidelines on everything from student orientation to how school bulletin boards will be used.
The staff is seizing the chance to try new things.
For example, kids will have block schedules next year, which means they will attend their classes in 90-minute blocks instead of the traditional, shorter periods. They'll have three of their six classes one day, and the other three classes another.
That gives teachers longer class periods to cover material more thoroughly. Research also has shown that kids may get more interested in a topic if they have longer to absorb it, Deviney said.
The concept also is being tried at Princess Anne and Kempsville highs.
For 45 minutes of their 90-minute lunches, students will have ``action blocks,'' not-for-credit periods when they can pursue a variety of activities, such as visiting their guidance counselors, working in computer labs or attending assemblies.
``It seems to us that the possibilities are rather endless,'' Deviney said. ``It's kind of like an elongated homeroom, with purpose.''
One of the building's most notable features is a greenhouse that juts out into the main hallway. It's attached to the ``Center for Applied Technology,'' a cluster of small, open technology labratories around a central classroom. Students will be exposed to varied technology and applied sciences, such as environmental, construction and weather technologies and meteorology.
Teachers can conduct classes or allow kids to work at their own pace on the equipment in the small laboratories.
``There's probably a couple of labs like this in the country,'' said Scott Brown, the technology department chairman. ``The idea is to give kids an overview of technology systems, as opposed to the old way of teaching very specific skills.
``It's English. It's social studies. It ties everything together. It brings meaning for the students.''
``It's the old relevance issue,'' Deviney said. ``I think more and more, we've got to answer that question for kids and their parents: `What does this have to do with my life?' ''
There will be other, smaller innovations, too.
All classrooms will have telephones. Computers throughout the school will be networked.
Some students will be tapped to participate in leadership classes. Even discipline procedures are being revamped slightly. Instead of an ``In School Suspension Coordinator,'' the school will have a ``Citizenship Coordinator.''
Administrators still will keep a tight rein on student behavior, Deviney said. But, he said, ``More than a chemist, more than a physicist, we want to produce a good citizen.''
Evidently, prospective staff members liked some of the new ideas.
Deviney had more than 900 applications for teachers and other instructional staff members. He interviewed more than 400, and hired about 70.
Many already have spent time at the school, working on committees or getting their work spaces organized.
``There's a kind of tingle in the air,'' Deviney said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Complete with a controversial $42,151 rooftop flag pole, Ocean Lakes
High School carried a final price tag of nearly $28 million. It is
located at 885 Shuman Drive.
``I feel a lot of personal pressure,'' says Principal Jerry F.
Deviney, standing in the student courtyard at the center of the
school. ``We have an opportunity to build one of the best schools in
the country. We'll never be a new school again. If we get the
foundation right, if we build that tradition, we'll have an
opportunity to do that.''
ABOVE: A fully stocked ``home economics'' room is on the first floor
near the front of the school.
LEFT: A long corridor of lockers awaits 14,50 students initially.
The school was built to accommodate 2,300.
BELOW: The library gets its airy look from the great outdoors. It
exits into the courtyard in the center of the school.
Ocean Lakes High School's auditorium was still under construction as
the school neared the students' first orientation on Aug. 22.
by CNB