On A New Road to Learning...

Questions About...
Moving Randolph School
to Abbott 2004-05
December 4, 2003 :

Packing and Moving
Pay time for packing and unpacking? What’s the deadline?
Teachers will be paid up to 14 hours for the move to and 14 hours for the move from Abbott. The Timeline (dates) for us to be out of Randolph are yet to be set.

Is the entire school building emptied?
Absolutely everything will be out of the building. What is your personal property should go home with you. The furniture you determine you don’t want at Abbott will be loaded into a semi trailer here to wait until we return to Randolph.

How many personal supplies can we take with us? (2 file cabinets?)
Schools have varied in the number of boxes per teacher, to between 20 and 30 boxes each. We will tentatively plan on the higher end of that experience--30 boxes each classroom. Each teacher can take two file cabinets. The files do not have to be emptied.

Do we take our own furniture?
Yes. Any furniture you want to use the following year, but don’t want at Abbott will be put into semi trailers and stored here. The trailers will be locked and we will NOT have access to the contents during the year.

Will we have our computers?
Yes. Each classroom will have one computer. We will have a complete computer lab. There is also an extra computer room in which the “mini labs” can be located, and then used on an “as needed” basis.

What can we leave behind?
Nothing. Your personal items will go home with you in June. The items (materials and furniture) you want at Abbott will be packed and loaded onto trucks and taken to Abbott. The items you don’t want at Abbott will be stored in semi trailers for the year. NOTHING will remain in the building.

Library books?
The district media office will send a “SWAT” team to help sort and pack the library.

How much time in June and August to pack and unpack?
This is yet to be determined.

Do we really have to take every single thing? Yes.

Is extra stuff stored in a semi? Yes.

Can we get into it once school starts? No.

Facilities
How are the rooms divided at Abbott?
The classrooms are arranged off of two parallel hallways and are divided with 6 foot “semi permanent” rooms. There is a telephone in about every other room. Each room has tack strips, 2 bulletin boards, and one white board. The classroom “doors” are shower curtains. (Each team could have similar curtains, or themed curtains.) The classrooms are carpeted. The hallways are not. See the Randolph website for photos of Abbott Sports Complex.

Will this change any of our duties (playground, etc.)?
The playground is closer to the school than our lower field entrance is from our main building. Teachers will escort students from their classrooms to the playground, because of the street to cross. As for duties, students will arrive at Abbott and come directly to breakfast and then to their rooms. There will not be outdoor lines to supervise.

Is mice population under control?
It would seem so. In the previous year, West Lincoln captured 36 mice. This fall, Riley/Brownell has only caught 5. We will not have candy drawers, little snacks, or other food stuffs around in classrooms. The only exceptions to this (even in the staff room) will be food locked in hard plastic containers (like Tupperware, etc., not just Ziplocs).

Noise level?
We found the normal morning to be very quiet. There was little carry over noise from one room to another.
Is music and PE, instrumental in same commons area? PE has its own soccer field on the opposite side of the school complex away from classrooms. Band and strings are also in areas away from the classrooms, on the other side of the complex.

What is ventilation like?
AC and heating seemed consistent. For the in-between times, fans circulate the air.

Do we leave classrooms as is on weekends?
Absolutely. The school portion of the building is locked and alarmed.

Have heard bathrooms are an issue---not enough, location.
Bathrooms are centrally located and easily accessible from the classrooms, kitchen, and gym areas. There are two boys’ and two girls’ bathrooms, each with 5 stalls, for a total of 10 boys’ and 10 girls’ stalls. There are 4 portable buildings, also. Each of those have their own restrooms (1 boys’ and 1 girls’)

Will there be wall space – do we need magnets?
We absolutely CANNOT use ANY type of nail, tack, thumbtack, or pins on any of the walls. We will use the tack strips, bulletin boards, and other available wall space. Tape will be used sparingly. The rim of each classroom wall is metal, so magnets could be used to hang or display items. You’ll see examples in the photos from Abbott.

Supplies/Equipment/Materials
What special supplies do we need to order? (i.e. magnets)
In addition to any magnets you might want, please order markers, erasers, and cleaner for white markers boards. There are no chalkboards.

Where are our “extra” supplies located?
There may be a space available for a storage/general supply room.

What areas are available for book room/ storage?
Not much. We’ll work on that.

What do we bring of our supplies?
Everything you’d need for your classroom here.

School Hours
Will the school day hours stay the same?
Randolph stays a 9:00 start school.

Is start up time of school changed because of busing?
We remain, especially because of busing schedule in the district, a 9:00 start school.

Critical Incidents
How do we handle Code Red drills? Are there places that keep children out of view?
Yes there are concealment areas, as well as a variety of emergency only exits. We will modify and adapt the Code Red plans other schools have developed for Abbott.

Tornado drills – is there a safe place?
The central hallway has been determined to be the safe area for tornado siren responses.
Transportation
How does bussing work?
Very well. There will be several Randolph bus routes. Para educator hours may be available for a Randolph para to ride each bus. .

How do kids get there and who supervises?
Parents are expected to supervise their own children at the bus stops. Once on the bus, students’ school day begins, and school behaviors are expected. Para educators and other school personnel may help with monitoring student behavior on buses.

Can teachers ride the bus?
Yes.

Is there a bus for afternoon kindergarten too?
AM Kindergarten students will be picked up along with other kids on the various routes. AM Kdg. kids will be taken to their doors at the end of their morning. PM Kindergarten kids will be picked up at their doors. PM Kdg. kids will ride the buses home with the rest of the students on the various afternoon routes. The thinking is that young kiddoes come to school in the am with their older siblings, and go home in the afternoon with older siblings.

Who’s responsible for getting the kids on busses at Randolph?
Parents.

Did your enrollment drop as a result of the move – especially kindergarten enrollment?
Of the 6 most recent schools moving to Abbott, only one (West Lincoln) reported a significant change in enrollment (-50) for that year. The others experienced -10 to -12 students. Not much difference was noticed in the Kindergarten numbers.

For complete information on transportation-- routes, time tables, expectations, and signing up for busing-- please attend the PTA meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Randolph gym.

Hours of Access by Staff
Do we each get our own keys?
No. The building will have 2 extra keys. These will be available for staff to check out as needed for any weekend access. This kit also contains the step by step instructions for accessing the building, turning off the alarm system, finding the furnace room to turn on the lights, and then all the steps to do to secure the building again. We also want to keep in mind the location of the building--far from other buildings and community. It is not recommended that individuals spend time there alone. However, we will have an access system for your work needs.

Will we have free access to the building to work nights and weekends?
On weekday evenings, we can stay until the custodians leave around 11:00 p.m. The custodians have the locking and setting the alarms responsibilities. From October to May, the indoor soccer areas have soccer games and practices going on from 4:30 each day. Since one of the soccer fields is next to the classroom area, the late afternoons get noisy. You can certainly stay until 11 p.m., but the soccer noise will take some getting used to.

How far is it from Randolph to Abbott?
Abbott is 8 miles and 14 minutes from Randolph.

Use of Building for Parent/Community Events
Where did you have conferences?
Most schools held conferences, PTA meetings, and other events at their feeder middle school. In our case, that would be Lefler. We have also had offers for facility use from LMEF and Our Saviour’s Church.

What about school before/after clubs?
There will be one activity bus for one morning a week, to provide whole group practice time for band and strings. We could also offer chess club, chorus, etc. during that same morning. However, that means kids can be in one or the other but not all programs. Another option would be to have the after school clubs at LMEF or another site.

What happens to Before/After School Program?
Still to be determined. Most likely, our Family Service program kids would be included in another school’s program.

Can PTA and Parent Advisory Group meet at Abbott at night?
No. We’ll have alternate site in the neighborhood for these meetings.

Special Education
SPED – will we still serve St. Teresa?
Yes. At this time, we believe so. It is that additional student count that has enabled us to keep 3 sped teachers.

Lunch
How is lunch served?
The kitchen is a warming kitchen, not a preparation kitchen. There are two snap machines, so lines move quicker. Lunch schedule is much like we have now.

Breakfast?
The district may continue to provide all students who want it a breakfast. Students would come into the building when the bus arrives, pick up their breakfast to go, arrive in their classroom to eat, and begin the day at 9:00. There are large trash cans in each room and the custodians pick up trash first thing in the morning. Since buses arrive in a window of time, this seems to have worked the smoothest for schools who’ve been to Abbott. We’ll refine to fit.

Recess/Playground
Walking to the playground.
With the expectation that students walk in safe, orderly lines, there have been no recess problems. As stated above, the playground (and it is HUGE!) is not quite as far from the Abbott door as is our lower field stairs from our main building. Teachers will escort students to and from the playground.

Timeline
When do we need to be out of Randolph and then when do we need to be out of Abbott?
LPS will plan to move Randolph School furniture, equipment, and materials to Abbott on or around June 9-11, 2004.

Randolph Return!
To find out what this renovation project will include, and what our school will be like when the remodeling is completed, please participate in one of the following meetings at which time the engineer and architect firms will explain the scope of the Randolph Indoor Air Quality Project:
Tues., Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Randolph gym
Tues., Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Randolph gym
Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Randolph gym.

When we come back, what will it look like?
The same place with a great facelift and tummy tuck! It’ll be COOL!

How much time will we have to move back into Randolph before school starts?
Timeline yet to be determined. Example: Brownell work is right on schedule. They may be able to move back in July. Riley work is behind schedule. Their move back will be very close to the start of school.

Will we be paid for packing at Abbott in June and unpacking at Randolph in August?
Yes. Up to 14 hours to move to Abbott and up to 14 hours to move back home.

How soon after the end of the year at Abbott do we have to be out?
LPS will plan to move Randolph School furniture, equipment, and materials to Abbott on or around June 9-11, 2004..