There were cheers in City Council chambers on Saturday evening, when after a long wait to have their voices heard, Patrick Henry families finally saw the design for the Patrick Henry new school and recreation center approved.
When Mayor Alison Silberberg asked for the vote, a group of children, some of whom had spoken in front of Council a few minutes earlier, all spontaneously said “aye” along with the all the members of City Council. The chamber then erupted into applause as Patrick Henry families, PTA members, students, and school staff who had come out to advocate for the design hugged each other.
The unanimous vote came after more than six hours of waiting for the families, who had come out and stayed to advocate despite the ice storm and delays to their docket. All seven members of City Council noted that the design met the needs of the community by focusing on safety and purposeful instructional uses.
The Patrick Henry design ensures that the majority of walkers who come from the Fox Chase area, do not have to cross the bus lanes or parking lot and can enter safety through a separate entrance for the school instead of the recreation center. The instructional areas of the school are also compact enough to ensure rapid action can be taken in the case of emergency situations.
The three-floor design ensures that the middle school students in the new pre-K – 8 school can have their own instructional space on a separate floor from the elementary students. It also allows for large amount of the site to remain as open space, allocated to sports, play areas and a tot lot, and where the principal plans to plant apple trees to use as part of the instruction.
“We are just so excited that we get our new school. I am relieved that the final design is one that ensures my students can be kept as safe as possible during the school day as well as offering the community a great center for recreational activities” said Patrick Henry principal Ingrid Bynum.
Shirley Downs of the Arts Commission noted that, although the Arts Commission had originally advocated for an auditorium and were disappointed when the additional funding or space were not deemed not appropriate, they had continued to work closely with ACPS and project staff to ensure the school will have excellent performance spaces. The new school will have both a cafetorium – a space that can be used as both a cafeteria and a theater with an inbuilt stage – and a black box theater used for both performances and dance instruction.
Construction for the new school and recreation center will begin in the spring and the school is scheduled to open in fall 2018.
Watch the City Council hearing from December 17, 2016. The Patrick Henry Project was docket #7 that begins 4 hours 30 minutes into the meeting.