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Schools

Bond Construction Wrapping Up: District Ready to Welcome Students Tuesday

District respectfully requests that parents, students and residents refrain from visiting the buildings until opening day.

The end-of-school-year hustle and bustle never really stopped in the Garden City Public Schools this summer as project work under the community-approved 2009 School Investment Bond continued in earnest at the high and middle schools, and commenced at all three primary buildings.

At the high school, the connecting hallway to the new music addition was broken through and the walls dividing the old music rooms came down to make space for multiple new instructional spaces. The music addition begun in the fall of 2011 and slated for completion for the first day of school, Sept. 4, will allow the various musical groups in the high school’s growing program to practice in bright, new dedicated spaces. In the past, musical groups shared the auditorium stage and the library during practices.

At all three primary schools, new windows are replacing the scratched, cloudy
and heat-leaking Plexiglas panels that date back to the mid-century when the schools were constructed (and oil was a fraction of the cost). Boiler upgrades and door replacement at the three schools are covered under the district’s Energy Performance Contract (EPC), as are upgrades being implemented at buildings across the district, at no net cost to taxpayers. Con Ed Solutions, the company awarded the district’s EPC, guarantees that energy savings will cover the costs of the energy upgrades.

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At the elementary schools, summer offerings for Garden City students began the week after school ended with Camp Invention, a one-week program at Stewart School that challenged students’ imaginations, and the Summer Enrichment, AIS (Academic Intervention Services), College Essay Writing, and the Extended School Year programs at Stratford.

This was the first summer the district offered College Essay Writing to rising seniors under the direction of high school teacher Carlo Rebolini. The program was “very successful,” stated to Dr. Teresa Prendergast, Assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “These students can now begin their senior year having already completed their college essays. We were very pleased with the results and look forward to even more success in next year’s program.”

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Summer Enrichment, AIS, and the Extended Year program provided a host of
educational activities to engage and support students during the summer.

Construction-wise, there is still much to be done to ready the buildings for the
start of the school year so the district respectfully requests that parents, students and residents refrain from visiting the buildings until opening day.

To view ongoing construction safely, click here.

Thanks to the community’s support, all projects accomplished under the 2009
School Investment Bond will greatly enhance the instructional program in the district, provide safe, healthy and energy efficient learning spaces, and protect residents’ investment in Garden City’s outstanding public school system.

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