New Haven Independent

Kids Walk To School; No Calamities Reported

by Thomas MacMillan | December 21, 2009 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

On their first day at their long-awaited new home, Mr. Salem’s third-graders were treated to a gee-whiz tour of the Hooker School on Whitney Avenue.

After seven years of planning, the new Worthington Hooker School officially opened on Monday morning. The Whitney Avenue school is now home to 284 students in grades 3 through 8.

And despite the efforts of some Everit Street residents, some of those students came to school through a pedestrian gate removed from high-speed Whitney Avenue — without incident.

Paul Salem was one of a number of Hooker teachers who spent part of the day leading their students around the new $36.5 million building.

The opening marks the end of a bitter fight with neighbors who fought to prevent the school from opening in their neighborhood. That dispute went to the State Supreme Court in 2007. More recently, the school’s opening was met with another controversy when neighbors objected to the opening of the pedestrian gate.

Neither of those battles marred Monday’s jubilant opening ceremonies. Following speeches and songs, a ceremonial ribbon was cut by current Principal Robert Rifenburg and former Principal Carol Kennedy.

After the ribbon was cut, students streamed over a footbridge between the refurbished former church and entered the brand new front building. Frosty was waiting to hold the door for them.

Rifenburg said the school opening culminates a long process and the beginning of an expanded program at Hooker. The new school is “heavy into technology,” and has improved facilities for fine arts and music, he said.

“For me it means [the end of] ten years of lots of meetings,” said Kennedy. “The reality has come through for our students. We were in a building from the 1950s.” Now students have moved “a couple centuries ahead,” with a new library and media center, Kennedy said.

“It’s the best holiday gift I could ask for,” said proud Hooker mom Jane Edelstein. She has two daughters at Hooker and a third who is a Hooker alumna. After years of bringing her daughters to various temporary swing spaces, Edelstein said she is happy the school finally has a permanent home.

Salem was showing off the features of his new ground-floor classroom. He pointed out new storage space and an in-classroom drinking fountain.

Salem then led his students on a tour around the school. They walked up the glass-fronted stairwell past other classes of kids on tours of their own.

Winding through the boxes of books in the new library, Salem called out, “Take a look at all the shelves, all the space for the books.”

The third-graders then traveled back across the footbridge. “That’s not walking!” said Salem as his students’ exuberance got the better of them.

After peeking at the auditorium, the students went down to the new cafeteria. There they resisted the temptation of snatching snacks left over from the morning’s ceremony.

Then it was back out in the hall, past the to-be-completed gymnasium, and through the indoor passageway connecting the school’s two buildings. The next stop was the administrative offices, where Principal Rifenburg got a thumb’s up from a passing student.

“It’s phenomenal,” Salem said of the new school. He said he had enjoyed seeing the children’s faces that morning as they saw the school for the first time. “They were so excited.”

The new Hooker’s first day of school included the opening of a controversial pedestrian gate on Everit Street. Despite the heated debate caused by the presence of the gate, kids walked to school Monday without causing any disasters for the surrounding neighborhood.

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Comments

Posted by: Wilton D | December 21, 2009 1:59 PM

Everit st did not turn into a parking lot? Property values did not fall? Much ado about nothing.

Great fight just for the sake of being against the greater good.

Hopefully this will end the the rancor, I doubt it.

Good luck kids.

Posted by: Wilton D | December 21, 2009 2:07 PM

Love the title of this article, Thanks.

Posted by: Thankful | December 21, 2009 2:29 PM

Look how the tree shadows play on the gym wall...

http://picasaweb.google.com/NewWHooker/091221NewWHSOpening#5417767265738826962

Posted by: Westvillian | December 21, 2009 3:25 PM

The new school looks great and I'm happy for all the students. It did stink to have all the extra traffic on Whitney Ave. this morning. The snow heaped on both sides of the road, plus cars parked for drop-off in front of the school made the road extremely narrow and basically brought it down to one lane. That road has been the site of copious traffic and accidents for years though, so it can't all be blamed on the school.

Posted by: robn | December 21, 2009 7:45 PM

Its clear from the top photo that some nefarious characters have entered the neighborhood.... just kidding children...this is whats called a sarchasm (sic) Good Luck in your new school!

Posted by: Unfinished | December 21, 2009 9:50 PM

Hey Thomas MacMillan,

How come there are no pictures of all the unfinished work in that school.

I was there today. That school is not ready for children.

Walls still with just plain sheet rock, No paint, No trim, Exposed wood and nails. Contractors rooming the halls.

Have these contractors had background checks like the other city employees in that school?

The contractors I spoke with today clearly stated this school should not be opened yet.

So why was it???

How did this school get a C.O. ( Certificate of Occupancy)?

Just a guess but did it have to be opened before 2010 so the funding would go through?

Now answers to those questions would be good journalism.

Posted by: Mary June Lathers | December 22, 2009 1:36 PM

As an out-of-state grandmother of one of your up and coming first graders, this accomplishment is absolutely fantastic. Definitely worth the efforts of EVERYONE who had input to this project. thank you, all.

Posted by: pdh | December 22, 2009 4:16 PM

The "Independent's" snide attitude towards East Rock -- and all other neighborhoods that presume to doubt the wisdom of Yale, DeStefano, and his Squanderbund -- is *boring*. You'd think the people who pay the taxes in this city (& there are damn few of us!) deserve some respect.

Posted by: streever | December 22, 2009 11:12 PM

PDH I'm wondering if you've ever read the NHI before. I don't see this article as "snide"at all, nor do I see the NHI as pandering to Destefano. They frequently target him. Do you really think they pander to Destefano?

Posted by: Anon 2.0 | December 23, 2009 7:21 AM

I LOVE HUMOR.
Good job to the author or copy editor with the title.

More appropriate for The Onion perhaps.

For now, I'll just enjoy the premature opening (see unfinished above) and rejoice that there were no problems. Of course, since the opening took place when Yale had recessed, and traffic on WHitney was 1/5 what it usually is, I await January's third week.

As for my other predictions, I think folks are gloating too soon to declare Mission Accomplished as to property values not having dropped. (Seriously?) and my other prediction of a significant problem before this year's school is out. Lets talk at the end of June.
Happy Holidays.

Posted by: taggrboyz | December 23, 2009 9:08 AM

Anon 2.0,
The saddest thing about your hopeful predictions is that you probably wish they'd come true.

I'll take yours as a snide signoff -- I think you really mean Bah-Humbug.

Anyway, you'll be pleased to learn that some of us students who spent years in swing space yet missed out on this school are taking full advantage of your tax dollars through NH's 1% for Art Program to fund our Everit Street Graffiti Project; here's one 4U:

http://picasaweb.google.com/TAGGRBOYZ/EveritStreetGraffitiProject#5418391294380163986

PDH,
If the 'Neighborhood (is) a State of Mind', I wonder, are you in a NIMBYIST state of mind too?

(http://www.sachem.org/EAST_ROCK_ESSAY.pdf)

Dig this 'psychical reality'? We call it 'Four and a Half Years in Swing Space':

http://picasaweb.google.com/TAGGRBOYZ/EveritStreetGraffitiProject#5418397828723683794

Posted by: East Rockette | December 23, 2009 9:39 AM

TAGGRBOYZ you crack me up! LMAO over here.

Love your designs too. The neighbours would freak if you did the full-on tagging, but those East Rock landscapes are not just unobjectionable, they're gorgeous...

http://picasaweb.google.com/TAGGRBOYZ/EveritStreetGraffitiProject#5418373987634552546

Seriously, let's get some art on that wall, or some planting along the front of it, or both. It looks like a jail.

Anon 2.0, as others have said, you're dreaming if you think the school will depress property values on that street. Watch the bidding war as soon as the first houses come on the market in spring.

Posted by: TAGGRBOYZ | December 23, 2009 12:31 PM

EastRockette wrote:
"Love your designs too. The neighbours would freak if you did the full-on tagging, but those East Rock landscapes are not just unobjectionable, they're gorgeous..."

Thanks ER'ette, actually most of those are West Rock but is nothing sacred? Someone hacked in & with the surgical precision of a 4 year old, tagged two of those pristine sandstone mesas:
http://picasaweb.google.com/TAGGRBOYZ/EveritStreetGraffitiProject#5418475203756522866

What an outrage! Be Knise people, be Knise.

Posted by: anon 2.0 | January 4, 2010 11:32 PM

Looks like problems have begun.
Traffic was described as a nightmare completely clogging WHitney for blocks and spilling over and blocking many side streets. This is from a widely circulated email from today.

Yeah, and Yale isnt even back in session yet so traffic is about one fifth what it usually is in the AM and PM, maybe even less.
Good times.
I stand by my earlier predictions BTW.

Kids Walk To School; No Calamities Reported

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