Home / About NHCS / Background Info / Current Facility / Whats New!/ Building Plans / Q&A / Contribute-Volunteer / Contact Us
This section highlights recent news articles and updates on our progress and activities! You may have seen some of these articles in the North Haven News publication. We want everyone to stay updated! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call or email us! Our Contact info is on the "Contact Us" area of this site. Thanks!
Most recent web cam photo updated each morning Monday-Friday
Click here to checkout the live web cam on Saturday and Sunday.
NHCS Building Fund New Year’s Resolution: Finish this Campaign!
Since
early December, the NHCS Building Fund has raised nearly $300,000 in
new gifts, passed the $6 million dollar mark, and watched the rapid
construction of the walls and roof of the new school. Thanks to the
generosity of so many of you, we now have less than $200,000 left to
raise to meet our final fundraising goal of $6.23 million in private
donations. Our New Year’s resolution is to finish this campaign as
early in 2008 as we can!
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the
NHCS Building Fund will hold one last “fun” fundraiser. Last summer,
Sally Robbins donated an absolutely beautiful quilt to be sold or
raffled to benefit the NHCS Building Fund. Sally, one of the most
talented quilters on the island, crafted this queen-size, colorful,
handmade quilt herself. The quilt will be sold in an online auction at
www.nhcsbuildingfund.org between February 1st and 10th. We’ll put the
quilt in the mail to the winning bidder on the 11th so that you can
receive this cozy quilt in time for Valentine’s Day.
We think
the quilt is priceless, but we’ll start the bidding at $200. You’ll be
able to email us your bid and more information will be available at our
website. If you want to be sure you are included in our final online
auction, send us an email at info@nhcsbuildingfund.org.
Despite
snowstorms, ice, rain, and more snow, construction of the new school is
moving along well. As of mid-January and the writing of this update,
the high school and elementary school wall and roof trusses are
complete, and ice and watershield is on the roof. The middle school
walls are up and the roof trusses are being raised (in a snow storm) as
we write. All the SIPs (structural insulated panels) and roof trusses
were prefabricated off-island for faster installation and because of
their strength and insulating properties. The wall panels and roof of
the gymnasium are also being installed on top of the steel structure.
Our goal is to have the gym, the boiler room, and the locker rooms
roofed over before February begins. By the time you read this, the
majority of the school will be buttoned up. You can follow the building
progress online at www.nhcsbuildingfund.org and again, you can check
out the webcam every weekend on the website to see the week’s work or
check out the weather on North Haven.
As we wind down the
campaign, and continue the construction, we will keep you updated. As
we raise these final dollars, donations are always welcome at NHCS
Building Fund, PO Box 356, North Haven, ME 04853.
September 2007-
FOUNDATION UNDER CONSTRUCTION
View from ITV Tower
July 2007-
GROUND BREAKING PHOTOS!
These are some of the students that will be the first to graduate in the NEW SCHOOL!
The School Board throws a little dirt around.
A portion of the people who are making this project possible!
A ballet based on Deerhoof's album Milk Man
was performed in North Haven, Maine, in October, 2006. With a live band
directed by Courtney Naliboff, musicians and dancers from the North
Haven
Community School and the community at large, and featuring choreography
by
Ken Jones, the show was a huge success and received state-wide press
and a
stir among the music industry nationally. Buy a DVD of this unique show
for
$12 each plus $5 shipping with proceeds going to support the North Haven
Community School Building Fund. For more details about the show, to see
a
preview with some familiar faces, read the press, or better yet - buy a
DVD
go to: www.milkmanballet.com
NHCS BUILDING FUND: THE FINAL STRETCH -- $500,000 TO GO
Despite the cold weather, our
campaign to build a new North Haven Community School is nearing the end
and couldn’t be on more solid ground for a successful finish.
The walls of the new building are starting to rise, we have
raised over $5.7 million in gifts and pledges, the school warrant item
received overwhelming support at the polls on Election Day, and the
school continues to gain new recognition for its innovative and
successful learning approach.
We are almost there! Once
again, thank you to ALL who have given (and given again!), helped us
fundraise, volunteered, and supported this important community project.
To date the campaign has raised over $5.7 million in gifts in pledges
since December of 2005 — a truly remarkable accomplishment which
many people didn’t believe was possible on this small island (and
we weren’t sure ourselves!).
Now, just two years after the launch
of this effort, we are doing everything we can to raise the remaining
$500,000 needed to wrap this campaign up by the end of the year. We
have raised 92% of our total goal and the last $500,000 represents the
last 8% needed of the $6.23 million goal. More than 500 individuals,
businesses, and foundations have contributed to the project, and we
have received 113 new contributors toward our Kresge Capital Challenge
Goal that requires us to find 150 new donors to the campaign. We
need just 37 new donors needed to meet this portion of the Kresge
Challenge. Join us!
Tom Marx, the NHCS Superintendent
reported in early November that the building progress was “really
going well, even better than he expected.” The foundation
and floor of the entire school structure is complete, the steel for the
gym has been erected, and the crews are putting up the S.I.P.s
(structural insulated panels) that will make up the walls of the
school. The roof trusses are being constructed off island and
will be here within a few weeks. If all continues to move along
smoothly, we should have all the walls and a roof on the school by the
end of this year. We are pushing hard to get the school done by the
start of the 2008-2009 school year which would be great news, and no
matter what, the school will be completed by the end of 2008. We
have settled on a final figure with our construction management firm
Bruce Laukka, Inc., so the cost of this project cannot increase.
Technology teacher Louis Carrier and
his students have installed a web camera on the ITV tower at school so
all can follow the construction progress. Unfortunately, due to
liability issues, the camera can only be turned on during the weekends.
So, tune in on Saturday and Sunday to view the construction site
(or check out the weather!). You can stop by the
“what’s new” section of the NHCS Building Fund
website anytime to see a regularly updated still photo of the school
construction progress. If you try to tune into the web camera
during weekdays it will be password protected but on Saturday and
Sunday it will be accessible to all.
FUNDRAISING HITS $3.9 MILLION-January 2007
With a great number of year-end gifts received, we are very pleased to announce that we are indeed over the $3.9 million mark - $3,902,345 to be exact as we go to press.
In the process, we also pleased to announce that the marvelous challenge grant established Walter and Dorsey Cabot has been met - and exceeded. They generously contributed $50,000, which was to be met by new gifts from $500 to $2,500 by December 15, 2006. A total of 52 families responded, contributing over $53,000 by that date.
And speaking of challenges, we are about half way through the one established by the Cheston Family last month. They are matching all new gifts received after December 1, 2006 between $5,000 and $10,000, up to $50,000.
A reminder that the magnificent "Hawaii Raffle" established by Ken and Shaunagh Robbins is still in play! For a $25 ticket, you could be picked to enjoy two round-trip tickets to Honolulu from anywhere in the United States, a week's stay in a condo in Turtle Bay, and a one-week car rental. Looking for a birthday present or a Valentines's Day surprise? Send your checks to the Campaign Office (Attn. Callie Davisson), or call Callie with your credit card information at 207-867-4405. Drawing will be in the spring.
The recently completed on-line Art Auction, a first for us, raised another $3,765. Many thanks to the ten artists who donated their paintings, rugs, sculptures, and photographs - and for many bidders! Every bit helps us move toward our ambitious goal.
We were reminded a couple of weeks ago of yet another outstanding accomplishment by our school, for which this new facility we are banding together to build is well deserved and needed. Our North Haven 11 th graders scored the highest among all area high schools and in the top ten of all Maine high school juniors taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). This is the first year the state required all juniors to take the test - and what a great way to tell the world that excellence in education reigns on North Haven!
PRINCIPAL’S
REPORT: THE NEED HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER-November 2006
The call came at 6:30 a.m. and by a little after seven, the school
administrative assistant, Angie, had efficiently notified everyone that
the start of school was being delayed for two hours due to another
furnace malfunction -- another day of foul-smelling air and cold
classrooms. That was last Tuesday, but it could be any day this winter
or last or the year before that. The school is heated with hot air
through a maze of ductwork in the crawlspace cellar that delivers
uneven blasts of heat and the occasional smell of mold or decomposing
rodents throughout the building. Some rooms remain cold but mercifully
free of unpleasant odors; others are stifling and smelly.
Teachers and
students have been working in such conditions in our school for years.
They are remarkably resilient to the vagaries of the heating system,
the unhealthy air, the crowded, cluttered spaces, the dark classrooms
and windowless offices, and the lack of an accessible gym on inclement
days which confines them in classrooms for recess and breaks.
Our school program is successful in spite of our building, but our
building, in the words of our NEASAC accreditation report, is impeding
the teaching and learning at NHCS. The effects are gradual but
increasingly noticeable. More sickness, less energy, heightened
frustration, snapping tempers.
We’re in a
race against time, doing the best we can in a building that has
outlived its usefulness and substandard construction. An adequate new
school building is a necessity, and will enable our students to fully
realize their academic capabilities and individual potential and allow
our program to strive for new heights.
The response on the
part of the North Haven community to our need has been nothing short of
remarkable. Almost everyone now understands how essential it is that we
have a new school facility, and North Haven community members of every
ilk and persuasion are stepping up to contribute whatever they can to
see that it happens. In just ten months we have raised almost $3.6
million. Over $150,000 of that is from individual contributions from
almost 200 year-round islanders. Summer residents, old and new, are
rallying to our cause, recognizing the importance of a good school and
quality education to the viability of our town and the future of the
North Haven community.
We have a lot more
to do if we are to reach our $5.6 million goal by year’s end.
In the school’s backfield, we can see the
surveyor’s tape, marking off the perimeter of the new school.
Standing on the elementary deck, we can see where our beautiful new
school will take shape when construction begins a short year from now.
It is an image that will keep us going through the long,
unevenly-heated and toxic-smelling, winter ahead.
In four years, we
will be up for re-accreditation by the New England Association of
Schools and Colleges. By then, we will be in our new building, meeting
the most important and emphatic NEASAC recommendation from our initial
accreditation report in 2001. In our 2011 re-accreditation report, we
hope to read that the new NHCS building supports and enhances our
wonderful academic program in ways that today we can only imagine.
Thank you to all who have already given to this most critical campaign in North Haven’s history, and thank you to all who plan to give as generously as possible to see that we reach our goal for the children and future of North Haven.
Barney Hallowell
NHCS Principal
A NEW CAMPUS FOR THE
NORTH HAVEN COMMUNITY SCHOOL COMMENTARY FROM HENRY COBB-November 2006
It goes without saying that no building is more important to a
community than its schoolhouse. That is why I was glad to participate
last summer as a member pro tem of the Building Committee that has been
working closely with architect Steve Blatt and landscape architect Pat
Carroll on the design of a new campus for the North Haven Community
School. Under John Dietter’s able leadership, this group of
dedicated citizens has guided the programming and design of the
proposed new Schoolhouse and its grounds. Although much work is still
needed to flesh out its details, a definitive design concept for the
NHCS campus was unanimously adopted by the Building Committee in early
September and shortly thereafter won unanimous approval by the School
Board.
In my judgment, the
approved design concept is thoroughly and commendably responsible in
several important respects. First, the new Schoolhouse will be as large
as it needs to be to accommodate the School’s excellent
teaching programs, and not one square foot larger. Second, in its
design, construction and operation, the Schoolhouse promises to be a
model of sustainability, matching the School’s enviable
record of leadership in the study and implementation of innovative
energy conservation strategies. Third, the new NHCS campus will support
the School’s educational mission by providing a learning
environment of exceptional quality, three aspects of which seem to me
especially worthy of note:
Tradition and
invention: North Haven is a community whose strong local traditions are
memorably embodied in its modest but handsome farmhouses, barns and
boatsheds. The new Schoolhouse will draw upon and revalidate these
traditions—most notably that of connected farm
buildings—by showing how they can be inventively deployed to
address contemporary needs. Besides the aesthetic pleasure to be
derived from thus marrying tradition to invention, there is also a very
practical advantage inherent in the use of locally-based building forms
and materials: The Schoolhouse will be composed of interconnected,
modestly-scaled parts, most of which can be readily handled by Island
builders—a potentially significant factor in making it
possible to construct these needed new facilities within the
established budget.
Intimacy, variety,
permeability: Public schools are often perceived to be impenetrable,
over-scaled and oppressively institutional. The present NHCS building,
despite its many shortcomings, is engagingly intimate and permeable.
Though necessarily larger, the new Schoolhouse will preserve these
highly-valued qualities while providing a wide variety of learning
spaces, well suited to their diverse uses and arrayed within a
functionally efficient building that will everywhere offer views to the
outdoors.
Building and
landscape: An especially appealing attribute of North Haven is the
deference customarily shown by buildings to their wonderful Island
setting. In keeping with this tradition, the new Schoolhouse has been
carefully configured so that it will neither overwhelm nor stand aloof
from its site, but instead will actively and sensitively engage the
surrounding landscape, allowing the School’s daily life to be
enriched by an intimate and invigorating contact with nature.
The new NHCS campus is not just the largest construction project in our
Island’s history; it is also without doubt the most important
in terms of long-term benefit to the community it will serve. The new
Schoolhouse and its grounds promise to provide future generations of
Island children with a superb environment for growing and learning.
That’s why this project needs and merits the support of the
entire North Haven community, both seasonal and year-round.
$3.6M RAISED AND
COUNTING…-November 2006
The progress of the campaign to raise funds to build a new North Haven
Community School continues. We never cease to be moved and motivated by
the generosity of so many individuals and families. Today, the campaign
stands at $3.6 raised in donations and pledges.Hundreds of people have
stepped up with contributions and kind words about the importance of
education and the need for a quality school for the future of this
island community.
We are doing
everything we can to make this campaign a reality from soliciting major
foundations and individuals, to building participation in the
year-round community, to working vigorously to make sure the building
construction process is responsible.
We kicked this
campaign off on December 31st with our first $100,000 raised from more
than 150 island residents and businesses. Today, that total is closer
to $150,000 from 200 residents. The participation by NHCS teachers is
100% and we have received overwhelming support from other town boards,
officials, parents, and alumni.
Since then, we have
received several challenge grants to boost giving and participation.
The first was an extremely generous $500,000 challenge that the
campaign matched with over $700,000 in gifts and pledges by our August
15th deadline. Today, we have an exciting challenge from Walter and
Dorsey Cabot that seeks greater participation from the “next
generation” of donors and those who can’t give
leadership level gifts. The Cabot’s will match up to $50,000
in donations between $500 and $2500, given before December 15th. These
gifts can be given as one-time gifts or over three years. We are
extremely appreciative of those donors who are willing to use their
gifts as leverage to challenge greater support from the community.
We still have a
formidable task ahead of us to raise the remaining $2 million needed.
But there are many more families, individuals, and foundations
considering funding proposals before the end of the year. If you
haven’t given yet, we hope you will consider joining this
essential community effort before December 31st. We accept securities
donations, three-year pledges, and credit card donations. Please
consider stepping up!
Hannah Pingree
Campaign Director
PREDICTED TAX
IMPACT OF NEW SCHOOL PROJECT REDUCED-November 2006
Some have asked us during the course of this campaign why the entire
school project was not put onto local property taxes, and others have
questioned what the impact of the project will be on their taxes. Since
the recent revaluation, the anticipated impact per $100,000 has been
reduced, due to the increasing value of island property.
This year, a
couple owning a home assessed by the town at $150,000 pays
approximately $879 in property taxes. If the town had the $1.9 million
dollar, twenty-year bond for the new school in effect this year, their
$879 tax bill would have gone up an estimated $54.75, a 6.2% increase.
If the $5.6
million dollars was not being raised privately and the town had to
issue a bond for the entire $7.5 million dollar project, this year the
owners of a home assessed at $150,000 would have seen their taxes go up
an estimated $219, a 24.9% increase. We believed this kind of increase
would not be sustainable for any member of the community.
These tax increases are less than we projected two years ago. The
reason for the decrease is that the just completed revaluation produced
a smaller tax burden per $1000 of valuation - or a far reduced mill
rate. Based on the current valuation, the impact of the new school bond
on taxes will be approximately $36.50 per $100,000 of valuation.
There are an
increasing number of locally funded projects occurring in Maine and
most are being put entirely on the backs of local tax payers, making it
more difficult for year-round and summer residents alike to hold onto
their property. We believe the mix of both a private fundraising effort
and a public bond makes this project unique and most doable for all the
community members of North Haven.
Hannah Pingree & Tom Marx
FROM THE
SUPERINTENDENT: ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION MODEL TO BE USED-November 2006
As an island twelve miles off the mainland, if we wish to build a
22,000 square foot school, we have to contend with a myriad of unique
transportation, housing, storage, scheduling and cost issues that our
neighbors in Rockland, Thomaston and Camden do not have to factor in to
their planning and budgeting. Recognizing this problem, the legislature
passed a law in the last session that allows ten public building
projects, funded entirely with local dollars, to build with oversight
from a Construction Manager rather than a General Contractor.
The basic
difference here is that if we have to go with the General Contractor
model we must go to bid and must accept the low bidder regardless of
where he comes from, what his experience is building schools and,
perhaps most importantly, what he has for experience building a large
project on an island. On the other hand, a Construction Manager can be
selected according to criteria such as success with sites and locations
involving issues with transportation, storage, housing, circulation and
mobilization, past successful experience with energy efficient
construction, successful experience with projects involving islands or
otherwise remote sites, as well as, successful work building quality
schools on budget. The Construction Manager still signs a contract and
is legally bound to deliver the project on budget.
Our School
Board and our Building Committee both unanimously recommended we apply
to become one of the ten districts approved by the State to use this
model and on October 2nd we submitted our application (in fact, we were
the first application they had received). On October 16 Steve Blatt,
our architect, and I met for almost two hours with the 12-person panel
established to hear applications. We have just received notification
that we were unanimously approved for this method of building our new
school. We will be accepting applications for Construction Manager
through November 21, 2006 and will interview and select the successful
firm during the last week of November.
For the next
six months the Construction Manager will have two main tasks. The first
task is working hand-in-hand with the architect to identify and design
materials and methods of construction that will maximize efficiency of
construction while maintaining the highest quality. The second task is
researching and selecting sub-contractors, transportation, crews,
lodging and storage and developing the timetable and dates for 16
months of construction.
Groundbreaking
will occur early next summer and the Construction Manager’s
job from then to completion of the project will be assuring that work
goes smoothly on the building of our new school.
Tom Marx, Superintendent
Hard Work from the Building Committee-November 2006
Early this
fall, North Haven Community School’s Board of Directors
approved a concept design for a new school building that reflects the
skill of architect Steve Blatt and the combined expertise of the
diverse group of seasonal and year-round island residents who have
served on the Building Committee over the last year. In various
capacities, the team included (and will continue to involve):
architects Harry Cobb, Laurie Hawkinson, Perry Morgan, and Henry
Smith-Miller; energy efficiency engineer Bill Bartovics; businessman
George Silverman; NHCS elementary teacher Bonnie Waterman; Selectman
Karen Cooper; contractor Roman Cooper; business owner (and
Waterman’s Building Committee chair) Kim Alexander; NHCS
teacher (and architect) Louis Carrier; former diplomat Kim Pendelton;
NHCS Principal Barney Hallowell; and NHCS Board of Directors
Chairperson Nancy Hopkins-Davisson.
This group
was purposefully chosen to draw on the considerable professional
expertise of seasonal residents, while at the same time relying on the
irreplaceable sense that year- round residents have about what works
here, and how to practically and logistically make things happen on
this island. This group provided invaluable guidance to the architect
about the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the new
school.
This project
is unique in many respects, central of which is the challenge of
creating a workable building of this complexity in an island context.
One of the primary strategies was to break the building up into more
standard, manageable pieces, and to connect these pieces in traditional
ways, in the connected farm building tradition. The modules that make
up the building have been reduced in size over the last year, rendering
them more buildable on-island, and at the same time bringing them down
to a more human scale. At the same time, considerable thought has gone
into the siting of the building. Extensive shadow studies were
conducted with computer models looking at the building in several
different orientations, and at several different times in the year. The
result is that the building has been oriented on the site to maximize
the amount of natural lighting brought into the classrooms. Thus,
inturn, minimizing the amount of electricity called for during daylight
hours. At the same time, the orientation greatly reduces the amount of
wetlands impacted by the building (and the potential for the wetlands
to impact the building). The design goes a long way to helping create a
school that not only can be built today, but which can be operated and
maintained over the long term in an island context, while at the same
time being pleasant to inhabit, and inspiring to teach and learn in.
•
The design will be more readily built on-island than a more monolithic
mainland-style school design because each element that makes up the
building system is more residential than industrial in scale.
Additionally, pre-fabricated components can be assembled off-island.
These practices will reduce the logistics involved with the
transportation of materials, as well as, workers to the island,
especially during the winter storm season.
•
The concept makes practical sense in terms of the operability of the
building. Each of the modules will be able to function somewhat
independently, with residential-scale high efficiency heating and
ventilation equipment. Recycling and cleaning will be managed at the
“house” level, with students taking responsibility
for basic tasks. By taking care in this way, the intention is to have
students learn stewardship of the resources that have been provided to
them.
•
The building has been designed to be eminently maintainable in an
island context. It will be built with materials and systems that are
familiar to local contractors, and which can be maintained without
specialized equipment or expertise. This includes everything from the
siding to the flooring to the heating and ventilation systems.
Much good
work has been done to make sure that the schoolhouse that we build
serves the community well, and that it continues to serve us for many
years to come. Much more work remains to be done as the design moves
forward and is articulated further. I’m excited to continue
to work with the able group of citizens who have chosen to make this
project their priority.
John Dietter
NHCS Building Committee Chairperson
Update from the North Haven Community School Building Fund - May 2006
The campaign to build a new school on North Haven continues with lots of good news to report.
First, we are extremely grateful for a generous additional gift of land from Richard and Janet Witherspoon. They have agreed to donate a third of an acre of land to go with the original gift of two-thirds of an acre, bringing their total gift to the school to an acre. The additional land will allow direct access from the school site to the town owned Crabtree Farm. The Witherspoon's openness and generosity is greatly appreciated and their gift will certainly enhance the future options of our school site. Please help us thank Dick and Janet!
There has been a significant amount of progress as the building committee has worked to further refine the school design and ensure the new building will fit well into the current site and maximize both construction and operating efficiencies. Working with the architect, the committee has worked to recommend many chances and enhancements, including reorienting the building to gain better solar exposure and to better utilize the limited site. Some of these changes came about as the direct result of recommendations from a group of distinguished North Haven architects who have been advising the building committee. Their advice and the hard work of our dedicated building committee and architect has been crucial.
We also want to thank the students and teachers of North Haven Community School for their very hard work in advance of the June Renaissance Fair, especially students Tom Emerson and Tom Sommo and teacher Janis Jones who are serving as the organizers for this very creative school fundraiser. The fair is shaping up to be unlike any event community members have ever seen. With a roasted pig feast, medieval games, local artisans, a hay bale castle and dramatic performances included a puppet play, and many costumed subjects, it is sure to be an event not to be missed. Mark your calendar for the afternoon of June 11 th at the school and start working on your costume now! Everyone is welcome!
Lastly, as the campaign continues through the summer, your energy and passion is needed and appreciated. As teacher Kathi Lovell aptly states in the "Our School, Our Town" video, "We need a new school for the kids." Thanks to so many for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for this important island endeavor.
Capacity of a New NHCS Facility- April 2006
Happy Spring! As the campaign to build a new North Haven Community School continues to move forward with great momentum on and off the island, many good, specific questions have come up about the project. Since this effort is unique, complicated, and important to the future of the island, we have made every effort to address questions specifically and in public forums. Since last year, members of the staff, community, and campaign have written in this paper about the need for the overall project, the design process, our fundraising progress, the referendums, the question of sending students to Vinalhaven, and the gymnasium. (Contact us and we can send you these columns).
This month we will try to tackle one specific question, which speaks to the overall approach to the school design and the future population of North Haven: what is the enrollment trend for North Haven Community School (and the town) and for what capacity are we building?
There are competing views about the current state of North Haven's year round community and school. Some believe the island has lost population in recent years, while others believe it is growing or remaining stable. While there are certainly trends that threaten the future of the year round community, like the affordability of housing, if the number of school age kids is any indication, North Haven has maintained a relatively stable population over the last twenty-five years. The school's peak enrollment during this period was 85 students in the 1996-97 school year and the low was in 1981-82 when the population dipped to 56 students. Twenty-five years ago the school had 75 students and today, as of March, the school has 71 enrolled students (and the school began the year with 69!).
The new school plan is designed for a capacity for approximately 80 students but unlike mainland schools with standard class sizes, the answer to "how many kids are you building for" is not a simple formula or answer. Because our school is small and each class size can vary significantly from year to year, designing rooms and classrooms with uniform sizes doesn't make sense. Building for one size class could even cause us to "overbuild" a school that would cost us more and not provide the kind of learning environments that accommodate the best learning. While North Haven has an average class size of 5 students, some classes are as small as 2 or 3 students, while other classes have 10 or more in a grade. As most classes accommodate at least two grades, this equation should be moderated somewhat, but baby booms on North Haven often concentrate in specific years. Therefore, planning spaces that will accommodate large and small classes as they move the system is complicated but essential. Our goal has always been to build a school that will efficiently account for varying class sizes with sufficient space, yet with no wasted or inefficient spaces.
The new design responds to that goal very directly, with varying classroom sizes, so teachers may change classrooms in a given year to accommodate very large or small classes. The first design of the school - which had substantially more square footage - was designed around larger mainland standards. As we have sought to save money and create a more positive environment for a unique and very small school, we have challenged those standards with a more creative design. We have more rooms that can be used for multiple purposes, rooms that can be shared and utilized for community use, and classrooms and shared spaces that we believe will accommodate better learning and school community.
Many of the classrooms have shrunk from the previous design to ensure we aren't overbuilding for those "big" classes, yet we will be able to accommodate larger classes when they occur. The high school is currently designed with four classrooms (including one that will be shared with ITV) that will each handle 10 - 12 students for the combined grade levels. Specialized rooms like the science lab, library, and art and music classrooms are sized differently and appropriately to accommodate these different types of uses.
This campaign has often used the motto "Building for the Future." Some have misconstrued this to mean the school plans to build for some future and significant increase in North Haven's population. This is not the case.
Our goal is to build a reasonable and efficient school that encourages quality education for our kids and the kind of population trends the island has seen over the past twenty-five years. We believe by doing this, we are building for the future.
Upcoming "Polar" Dip & Regular Reminders of Need for a New Facility - March 2006
As the weather warms and freezes during this strange winter the North Haven Community School Building Fund continues to presses on with success while island residents are repeatedly reminded of why the need for a new school facility is so dire. Both serious winter air quality issues in the current school and the fact that it is basketball tournament time again make the case for the school building campaign.
Since the NHCS Building Fund New Year's Eve island kick-off's campaign's enormous success, the capital campaign has moved forward with approaches to foundations, off-island donors, and corporations. And fundraising still continues on the island with efforts being spearheaded by many dedicated residents and parents. Most recently, Silvia Carrier has undertaken a great art project with students and adults, making incredible hand-painted scarves, which are being sold to benefit the school.
The most exciting, and probably most insane, upcoming fundraising event for the NHCS Building Fund campaign came from parent Karen Cooper who is organizing a "Polar Dip" on April 1 st with parent Michelle Campbell. Although the event is scheduled for April Fool's day, believe it or not, it isn't a joke. The "Dip" will take place mid-day at second bridge beech in Pulpit Harbor and fools, and any other school supporters are welcome. Those interested in participating in this fundraising event for the school should call Karen Cooper or the Building Fund Office for more information (867-4405). The event will take place at lunchtime with a hot chili cook-off, and hotdogs and s'mores to be served to swimmers and spectators. You have more than a month to start preparing so sign up, if you dare...
As the capital campaign moves forward with great momentum, this strange winter has highlighted the increasing concerns about the current school facility, especially the building's HVAC system, foundation, and air quality. Without a doubt, the cold, flu, and respiratory illnesses on the island have been significant for seniors, adults, but especially kids with far more students out sick than any past school year on record. One of the worst particular days saw 20 students out with illnesses from a total school population of 68. The weather and close conditions of the island are likely contributors to the illnesses, but the air quality of the issues of the school facility have only made matters worse. Temporary air filters throughout the school have helped, but a sub-standard HVAC system, failing floors, and an inadequate and compromised crawl space under the school are likely culprits for the continued problems. Teachers and students with allergies and asthma have had increasing problems in the current school environment due, probably because of these issues, which are clearly worsened when the building is closed tight for winter. The school continues to attempt short-term fixes, but air quality is just one very serious reason why the current facility is an unhealthy and inadequate place for our kids to learn.
The February excitement of basketball tournament season also highlights the need for improved school facilities. Game after game this winter the entire North Haven community has packed into the gym for the high school basketball games. After a great season our boy's team qualified for the playoffs with the first game to be played at home. Due to a Maine Principals' Association policy, the Hawks "home" game against Greater Portland Christian was moved to neighboring Vinalhaven because our home court is not regulation size and therefore we were not allowed to host our own playoff games. A good crowd made the journey down to Vinalhaven to cheer the team on. The great news is that North Haven won and this year's team will be the first North Haven boy's team to qualify to go to the Augusta for a quarterfinals game since 1986 - twenty years ago!
The news of the boy's basketball success is positive and a great boost for the island, especially in February. Our island basketball teams represent the heart and spirit of our community and what high school sports should be. Our teams have even been noted for their unique perseverance and spirit against many odds in recent publications from the Portland Press Herald to Downeast magazine. Of course our teams, like our teachers and students, will continue to make due and thrive in our small island school. But whether it is health and safety concerns or a fifty-year old non-regulation gymnasium, we are reminded this winter as to why this campaign to build a new school is so important for our island kids.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NHCS Fundraising Off to Strong Local Start with New Year's Kick Off -February 2006
North Haven celebrated the end of 2005 with a bang as more than 150 island residents spent the evening helping to kick off the North Haven Community School Building Fund Campaign. The kids' carnival, potluck, entertainment, and 7pm ball drop were enjoyed by all in attendance.
Highlights of the New Year's Event included a rousing battle to knock out the piñata, David Cooper's Prime Rib and Kate Cooper's squash rolls, the look on Little Foy's face when he won the used truck in the raffle, entertainment from The Toughcats and the debut of Crystals in the Fire: (the dynamic duo of Kennedy Cooper and Natalie Jones), and of course the amazing accomplishment of meeting our local fundraising goal.
Our hope was to raise $100,000 in gifts and pledges from at least 150 year-round island residents, businesses and alumni by New Year's Eve. Many people didn't think this level of giving and participation could be achieved from year round residents, but we believed strongly that the island community needed to boldly lead off this campaign. We were blown away by the enormous community turnout and participation. Islanders of all ages rallied to the goal, raising more than $100,000 from nearly 200 individuals, businesses and alumni. Cooper Construction announced at the event that they would give $2,500 and match the next several island businesses that would give the same. One business has already stepped forward to accept the challenge. That kind of generosity was seen from so many residents who clearly stretched to make the crucial island campaign kick-off a success.
A big, big thank you goes to all those involved in making this kick-off event such a success - from the organizing committee to the many, many cooks (especially David Cooper and Kate Quinn) to those who came to the event and helped make it such a big success. We also appreciate the support of so many local businesses that contributed to the raffle including: Newcastle Chrysler, Penobscot Island Air, North Haven Grocery, Silvia Carrier Ceramics, Eric Hopkins Gallery, the Samoset, the Waterfront Restaurant, Critter Outfitters, Black Bull Tavern, Sugarloaf USA, as well island residents Phyllis Cooper and Becky Bartovics.
The fundraising campaign stands at more than half a million dollars raised and lots more to go - so the hard work will continue. With early gifts and pledges from individuals, alumni, island businesses, and the MBNA Foundation, we are off and running.
The building committee continues to meet to work to refine the approved concept design, beginning to focus on the details of the plan - as we prepare to move to the working drawings phase. The building committee continues to focus on constructing a high-quality learning environment, while also ensuring reasonable building and operating costs.
We have a year of hard work ahead of us and still many major hurdles to overcome in achieving this very ambitious, yet important goal. We look forward to celebrating the completion of this campaign with you as we welcome in 2007!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Concept Design Emerges for Proposed New NHCS Facility -November 2005
The process of arriving at a solution to the facility and space issues of our school has involved school leaders, town officials, and community members for more than six years.
In 1999, with the school facing serious space issues, failing structural elements, and inadequate systems, the town considered and then turned down a proposed renovation and addition plan. Many residents cited the need for a long-term solution rather than a temporary fix. In 2000, after an interview and review process by a community committee, the school board hired Stephen Blatt Architects to work with the board, the staff, and the entire community to develop a plan for a new facility. The firm was selected because of its extensive work designing Maine schools.
On March 6, 2003, the school board presented the town an initial concept plan for a 28,000 square foot facility that had been developed by the architect and a community committee. The plan was perceived as too large and was stalled by a tied town vote at referendum . Over the next year, school leaders regrouped to consider revisions.
Following the failed town vote community input was received regarding plans for a new school. Many options were raised and debated, including: 1) Sending students to Vinalhaven, 2) A reconsideration of the possibility of renovation, and 3) Reducing the size of the proposed new school. To inform the decision-making process, an engineering study was done of the existing facility, an economic analysis of what savings would be achieved by sending students to Vinalhaven was completed by Superintendent Tom Marx, and the proposed design was assessed on a room by room basis for possible space reductions. After considering this information, it was decided that a new, smaller school was the best option.
By January 2004, Stephen Blatt Architects had redesigned the project to be a 24,300 square foot building located behind the current school, utilizing additional acreage donated to the school by Richard and Janet Witherspoon. This design and the funding and fundraising authorization needed to proceed with a new school project was approved in January 2004 at a town referendum.
Since the approval of the 2004 referendum, the cost of building materials nationally and locally has increased substantially. In addition, the architect began to get a more accurate picture of what island construction costs would be based on conversations with contractors with island experience. Revised cost estimates for the approved new school design had increased by several million dollars beyond previous estimates. It was clear that the approved concept design was not buildable for the amount authorized and that efforts were needed to get costs under control and rethink the plan.
In response, during this past summer of 2005, the North Haven School Board reconvened a building committee of diverse community residents and asked them to go back to the drawing board with our architect on a new cost-efficient and workable concept design. After months of meetings and discussion, input from year-round and summer residents, and advice from a group of architects who spend summers on North Haven, a new design emerged.
The new concept design plan reflects the unique nature of North Haven's small school and island community. It minimizes construction costs by reducing the size to just less than 22,000 square feet of space, with approximately 15,550 feet of classroom and administrative space, and 6,400 square feet in the attached regulation-size gym.
The consensus of the Building Committee at our most recent meetings is that the concept plan presented by Stephen Blatt represents a plan in keeping with the spirit, feel, and scale of the school community and the community at large.
This concept plan breaks up the massing of the building into three more manageable and understandable "houses." This makes sense to us on a practical level, and we think that it will pass our test of being buildable, operable, and maintainable in an island context.
We think that the concept will prove more buildable on island than a more monolithic "big box" school because the scale of each of the components that make it up is smaller in scale, from the structure to the heating system. We also believe this new design reduces some of the more significant island construction costs by making use of panelized construction and by using smaller quantities of concrete than past designs.
The concept makes sense to us in terms of how operable it will be because the houses can function somewhat independently in terms of heating, recycling and cleaning. These items can become major cost drivers in the operating budget if not done thoughtfully and well.
And finally, we see the building as being eminently maintainable in an island context because it will be built from materials familiar to local contractors. This includes everything from siding to flooring to furnaces.
We hope to continue to stay involved in this process as the concept moves to "working drawings." Island construction and logistics are unique, and we will continue to work to ensure that the new school building makes sense for the island and can be built for the proposed costs.
While this concept should be truly taken as just that -- a "concept" -- which will continue to be refined, improved, and changed, we do believe this is the right direction for a new North Haven Community School facility. More than any other design to date, this new concept reflects the unique character of our small community and the spirit of our school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several Changes Proposed in Fall School Amendment Question -November 2005
A proposed amendment question on the November ballot asks North Haven voters to approve several changes to the previously passed January 2004 referendum that authorized the North Haven new facility project to move forward. The proposed amendment does not ask taxpayers for any additional public funds beyond the $1.9 million already approved in the 2004 referendum. The proposed amendment has three components. These include:
• The amendment proposes an increase in the total amount of the new school project from $5.6 million to $7.5 million. The total amount to be paid by the town will not increase from the original $1.9 million approved by North Haven voters in January 2004. While the article does not ask the town for additional funding, it does authorize the school to raise more private funds for the new school project costs.
• The amendment article asks that the fundraising campaign be allowed to accept written pledges of support for the new school project over a 3-year period and that these pledges count as gifts to the campaign for the purposes of triggering matching funds when the total private portion is raised. This will allow the school to begin construction when all the funds are committed through private contributions and pledges, and will allow construction to begin when all funds are committed, rather than at the end of the 3-year pledge process. Note that written, signed pledges of financial support are legally enforceable documents.
• The amendment also clarifies that the $1.9 million in bonds or notes the School District issues for this project shall be used to pay the costs to design, construct, and equip the school but shall not be used for fundraising costs or interest costs for third party loans. The costs for both fundraising and third party loans (for pledge financing) will be paid entirely from those funds raised privately for the project.
A "yes" vote on this amendment question will allow the school construction project to move forward with a capital campaign and, when private funds are raised to match the town commitment, it will allow sufficient funding for a new school to be built. A "no" vote will reject needed changes to the original referendum.
The fall amendment question technically is not related to approving the new concept design, as proposed by the architect and approved by the school board and the building committee. Despite this fact, it is still important that the community members have a chance to see and hear about the new design and understand how the funds for the new school construction project will be used. It is important to clarify that the new school concept plan has been approved "in concept" by the school board, but still may continue to change after continued public discussion and input so that it may best meet the needs of the students, community, and our budget.
Why are the projected building costs increasing?
This past spring, the NHCS board received information from our architect, Stephen Blatt, that the projected costs of the 24,300 square foot design had increased over previous estimates by as much as several million dollars. These increases were based on inflation in the construction industry, more accurate estimates of current island construction costs.
Nationally, the cost of building supplies is up significantly, even prior to Hurricane Katrina's devastation. Data available in July 2005 showed that shortages over the past two years have driven up the price of a number of key building materials including structural steel (up 64%), ready-mixed concrete (up 16%), lumber (up 17%), copper (up 51%) and brick (up 8%), according to The Associated General Contractors of America.
This level of uncertainty and rising construction budget was not acceptable to the School Board so they voted to cap the total construction costs at $6.77 million, and capped the total cost of the new school project at $7.5 million. To find a way to build a new school under the new cap, the NHCS School Board voted to reconvene a building committee to work with the architect, Stephen Blatt, on a new design that could be built within the budget and that would still meet the needs of the students and school.
After months of meetings, compromises, and some tough decision-making between the building committee and the architect, a new school design emerged that cut another 2,300 square feet from the school design and changed the overall concept plan from one large structure to several smaller buildings. The new concept will ideally be easier to build on island, will reduce the needed quantity of some of the most expensive materials, and can be built for less than $6.7 million dollars. The school board voted October 10, 2005 to accept the new design concept plan.
As the design process continues every effort will be made to reduce island construction costs. These efforts will include maximizing the use of panelized building elements and minimizing the use of materials that will be most expensive to transport. The building committee has also been studying other various school and island construction projects, including the recent new school project on Vinalhaven, to better understand what can be done to make this project smooth and on budget.
Significant efforts continue to be made to ensure that the construction process will be as cost efficient as possible and to reduce annual operating costs of the new building. As was reported last month in the NH News, the new building project was accepted into the State's Public Utilities Commission "High Performing Schools" Program, and which will help the school model its future energy consumption and buy down the costs of highly efficient technologies that will save the school and community significant money in long-term operating costs.
The school board is also considering several alternative ways to manage the construction of this project, including the construction management model. A construction manager or management firm could help bring the school project in on budget but would also allow the uses of multiple general contractors (hopefully including some on-island contractors if they are available) and will create a more competitive bid process for every element of the building.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School
Building Fund Update: Busy Year Ahead with Ongoing Progress-October
2005
Students are back in school, classrooms have been decorated for a new
year, and the high school is preparing for their fall-study trip.
While the students are just getting back to their regular
schedules, this past month has been a busy one for the North Haven
Community School building effort. With many meetings, conversations,
some compromise, and lots of hard work still ongoing, there is some
good news to report, many important components in process, and forward
momentum toward the goal of reaching a design and plan that is right
for North Haven.
First, the good news! Late this summer the North Haven Community School building project was accepted into the "High Performing Schools" initiative of Efficiency Maine, a program of the State Public Utility Commission. Becoming part of this program will allow the school to access experts and grant funding of up $20,000 to ensure the new school design is as energy efficient as possible and they will also help the school model its future operating costs based on different designs and technologies. The school will also be eligible for implementation grant funding of up to $100,000 to buy down the cost of highly energy efficient equipment, and a $10,000 grant to help defray the costs of paperwork and the process of becoming a LEED certified school, if the school chooses. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a national standard for developing high performing, sustainable buildings.
As reported in the last North Haven News, between mid-August and mid-September a newly constituted School Building Committee met weekly at the request of the school board to try to seek out and recommend ways to reduce the costs of the new school facility in light of rising construction estimates for the current design. This committee, led by teacher John Dietter, has both year-round and seasonal residents participating including teachers, the principal, contractors, a school board representative, and a town selectperson. On behalf of the building committee John reached out to a group of prominent architects who spend summers on North Haven, led by Harry Cobb, for advice on design and cost-saving recommendations. John also met with a variety of other island residents with expertise in construction, energy efficiency, and building maintenance. Hopefully, these people will continue to serve as advisors to the building committee throughout the process as different questions and issues arise.
The Building Committee seeks to make recommendations to ensure that the building is affordable; workable for the current school programs; uses materials, building processes, and a design that make sense for island construction; and to ensure that it will be a facility in which all students, teachers, and North Haven residents can be proud. So far, the building committee has finalized a list of initial recommendations and a process for working with the architect to come up with a quality and affordable design. The school board voted unanimously to accept the recommendations, which span from specifics on floor and siding construction to a focus on overall concepts of how the building should reflect the unique community and academic program that it will house. Now those recommendations will be passed onto the architect for implementation.
Between the formal meetings and the casual conversations of the summer, members of the school board and other school campaign and building committees have had countless discussions with year-round and summer community members about the new proposed school facility. In this informal "listening tour" we have heard a great deal of valuable input, candid advice, and cautions. The good news is there is much understanding and respect for the quality of the school's educational programs and few people question the need for a new school to support these efforts. There is agreement that the current school is not an adequate facility to meet the academic needs of the students. There is also an understanding that major problems with the current facility necessitate a new building including serious issues with the current systems from the barely operable heating and ventilation system (so bad that the school maintenance staff person Nathan Haskell had to sleep in the school for several nights last winter to re-start the stopped furnace!) to the over-capacity electrical system to structural and health problems in the building from ceilings that contain asbestos to a roof that needs to be rebuilt.
During every conversation people ask important, hard questions. They ask about everything from how we can control the costs of construction and operation, specifics about the proposed design, to larger questions about the future of the school and year-round population. All these questions are essential and over the course of the next year through listening, providing accurate facts about the plan, and an ongoing process that includes the whole community, we hope to seek out the best solutions.
Please keep the questions coming and join the process. Look out for our ongoing communications as we seek to make this crucial school building project a transparent, inclusive, and successful effort; one that is sure to benefit generations of future students and community members of North Haven.