THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609130253
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: By Susan W. Smith, Staff writer
LENGTH: 147 lines
CEDAR ROAD ELEMENTARY School opened last week as bright, new and full of expectation as the 850 young students who skipped and darted down its halls.
The $10 million building for kindergartners to fifth-graders opened with all the excitement of a child's first book bag or first bus ride.
The 93,577-square-foot brick elementary school was tailor-made for young students with a palette of primary colors splashed throughout the Y-shaped building, said Principal Colleen C. Fox.
Red, blue, green and yellow circles, triangles and stripes deck the wide halls and trim the walls that lead to rooms where the students will learn not only to read and write but to use computers and to be introduced to art and music.
The list of school features include physical and occupational therapy rooms, a suite of offices for guidance counselors, conference rooms, faculty lounges, a faculty dining room, a music room with separate band area for stringed instruments, shadow box bulletin boards, handicapped-accessible showers and a wheelchair lift to the stage.
``This building is an educational dream for teachers, staff and parents,'' Fox said. ``And to the children, it's a playhouse of learning.''
Fox, who has taught in the Chesapeake school system for 21 years, came from Deep Creek Central Elementary School, where she was the principal.
``At Cedar Road Elementary, we are going to start our own traditions, and we are going to set a stimulating pace that makes education a rewarding adventure,'' Fox said.
The week before the opening day of school the outside of the building appeared to be finished, but inside the teachers and staff kept up a beat-the-bell pace to prepare for the arrival of students.
Open house, scheduled for Aug. 30, was postponed because things were not quite ready. Contractors, landscapers, maintenance staff, faculty and parents worked throughout Labor Day weekend to get ready for the first official day of classes. Some details remained to be done on Sept. 3, but with big smiles, welcoming bulletin boards, decorated classrooms and hot lunches, the doors of the school opened on time.
On the first day, as kids tumbled out of buses at the front door, trucks pulled to the back door to unload the last boxes of supplies. As parents and teachers solved opening-day problems, the custodians and contractors worked behind the scenes to put the finishing touches on the gymnasium and the heating, air conditioning and lighting.
For students and staff, the first few days were spent mastering the basics like learning the hallways and the directions to the cafeteria, restrooms and health clinic.
But some important school business was decided. The students selected blue, green and silver as school colors, and the dolphin was chosen as the mascot. ``Catch the Wave to the Future at Cedar Road Elementary'' was chosen as the school motto.
The end of the first week of school was a great success, Fox said. By Friday even the youngest knew the red stripe along the wall led to the kindergarten and first-grade hall and the green stripe led to the third- through fifth-grade hall. To make amends for missing the open house date, the contractors treated the students to ice cream on Friday.
Teachers and staff explored the school's unusual touches.
Brenda L. Bailey touted her spacious classroom with storage compartments for book bags and lunch boxes and a private bathroom. There are beanbag chairs for cozy reading, a carpeted center to muffle the stamp of little feet and work areas for different class activities.
No more slipping out of class for a drink of water or to take a message to the office. Each classroom has a sink, water fountain, a telephone and a computer to relay information or messages around the school.
``And no more projectors on rattling carts,'' Bailey said, as she pointed to her television. Every classroom plus the cafeteria and the media center have a television set. Teachers select a film and program the start time in the audio-visual center. The classroom telephone serves as a remote control to start the movie at the scheduled time.
The media center and the computer lab make up the technological hub of the school, Fox said. There are 31 computer stations in the lab. During their introductory lesson, first-graders Laura Baggerly, 6, and Emily Webster, 6, compared their computer screens as the alphabet scrolled across them. The girls were learning the keyboard and how to click the mouse to move from letter to letter.
Sharon E. Ramsey, the computer instructor, added ``monitor,'' ``disc drive'' and ``networking'' to the students' vocabulary. Soon the class will be clicking through ``Reader Rabbit Reading'' and ``Sammy's Science House,'' Ramsey said.
``As the children move through the many programs, they will be more comfortable with technology than their parents were,'' said Assistant Principal Wayne F. Mills. ``They will also be able to make changes and update with technological advances much easier.''
Media Specialist Lynn A. Bryant showed off her domain, which is the only media center of its kind in a Chesapeake elementary school.
Tall, white columns, banded in navy blue, separate the reading and activity stations. There's a computerized card catalog and a scanner to copy and print pictures and diagrams for class projects.
Every child in the school will write his or her own book this year, print it with a computer desktop publishing program and add it to the library's collection, Bryant said.
In the production room, students can write scripts such as school news or book reviews and broadcast to individual rooms or to the entire school.
``It often takes years to build what we are starting out with in the media center,'' Bryant said.
But with all the latest technology in the center, there's still an old-fashioned touch. In the corner, a rocking chair invites a reader to come sit with a good book.
Cedar Road is the only school in Chesapeake with classes for blind and visually-impaired students. Each day Lyn H. Hayes works with seven children who have varying degrees of sight. The students learn the usual subjects, but their books are in extra-large type or in Braille. Most of the math lessons are done on an abacus, and the maps have Braille overlays. The center has a computer with speech capabilities, a Braille printer and a scanner that converts copy into large type or into Braille.
Kathleen D. Hendrix, the art teacher, was so happy with her quarters that she strummed her guitar and sang a greeting as students entered the art studio. Dolphin posters swam around the walls, figures made of circles and triangles danced along the chair rail, and red-, orange-, blue- and purple-striped curtains streamed from the windows. The kids spread out at large, wooden work tables and couldn't wait to get their hands on the crayons, markers, scissors and glue. For the older artists, there is a kiln to fire pottery creations.
Dale B. Doss, the cafeteria manager, had the list ready when asked about her area. There are two walk-in freezers, deep sinks, large, stainless steel food preparation centers, steamers and glass-front convection ovens.
``My kitchen is the envy of Chesapeake schools,'' Doss bragged.
But the highest accolades for Cedar Road Elementary School came from the children.
``When I leave, I can't wait to come back,'' Mariette Dekker, 6, said.
``It makes me feel happy to come here to school,'' added 6-year-old Lauren Kress.
Eric Pace, 6, summed up the feeling of many students and faculty members when he said, ``Cedar Road Elementary makes me like school!'' ILLUSTRATION: Color cover staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Second grade teacher Jana Ornwake helps James Tyler Jones on the
opening day of school at Cedar Road Elementary.
Staff photos by MARK MITCHELL
``At Cedar Road Elementary, we are going to start our own
traditions, and we are going to set a stimulating pace that makes
education a rewarding adventure.'' -Principal Collen Fox
The school was tailor-made for youngsters with a palette of primary
colors splashed throughout the halls.
Music teacher Janet Moyer instructs her students. The music room has
a separate band area for stringed instruments.
On opening day, custodians and contractors worked to put the
finishing touches on the gymnasium and the heating, air conditioning
and lighting systems. by CNB