Right now we have group music classes taught in the hallways. This is a disgrace. We also have musical instruments “stored” in the hallway. Also a disgrace.

Maybe we all overlook these disturbingly inadequate situations because we assume such glaring problems will obviously be ameliorated by the renovation. But will they?

Nevertheless, if we do decide to go ahead without providing adequate and appropriate space for music instruction, let me make a simple suggestion: Pick the subjects that produce the least sound to be taught in hallways. That would clearly be less disruptive. It’s quite inane to have the one subject that is bound to produce sound be the one that is relegated to being taught in the hall where it can penetrate all nearby classrooms. Although this would perhaps be less disruptive, it would be, I think, equally squalid.

Imagine if instead of teaching music and storing instruments in the hallways we had math, art, or PE, or any other subject treated this way — imagine how outraged you would be.

Now imagine that the new building plan does not solve (or even address) that problem for music and ask yourself why it would be okay for us to accept that? If you think that’s not okay, then I’d urge you to make your thoughts known to the building committee by commenting here.

First the music room: On the above plans the music room is a windowless room across from the boiler room in the ‘cellar’ of Runkle School. Except for a bit more space, I do not see any improvement over the sad conditions of the music room from this year….and the plans indicate that it will be a far cry from what the music room has been for approx. 18 years.

The music dept. at Runkle does academically accomodate as many students as the physical education dept. ;the art dept.;and the library. The music room needs space for movement;space for storage; space for instruments (in use); space for learning; space for chorus; space for band; and, space for orchestra.

As one teacher I see approx. 840 students each week for a lesson – and that does not take into account the 180 students I see at assembly every week. The plans do not take into account the .25 teacher that teaches grade 7 & 8 music and it does not account for the instrumental teachers – 5 of them – that converge at Runkle to teach instrumental music at the same time. Where do they teach? Where does the band and orchestra meet? How long does it take for a class to transition to the music room?

Regarding the windowless room: could not some consideration be given to the number of hours and days that a teacher will be using a room. Some teachers are here in the building 1, 2 or 3 days of the week and yet the plans indicate that they will have ‘prime’ space with easy access and (esthetically pleasing)windows. The primary music teacher at Runkle teaches 5 days a week.

It is not necessary for the music room to be close to the multi. A central location near all the learners at Runkle is necessary. One that is esthetically pleasing that will allow esthetic growth of the students at Runkle.

Regarding the plans for the multi: I find that access to the area inadequate. Runkle school is a very active community. In addition to concerts twice a year for all grade levels there are plays, musicals, international celebrations, square dancing, large activities that support curriculum, etc. ……all of these and more demand the use of the space – it is so busy that scheduling is done the summer prior to a school year begins. How do people get to that space?….through the one small door you have provided at the back?….It seems to me that this is a bottleneck and could prove hazardous. There is one small entry where you have placed a stage – that entry is one door , built below ground level, with a flight of stairs leading to the small front parking lot. If the stage is indeed a stage you will need a flight of stairs on the stage inside, that will proceed down, below ground level, in order to reach the door outside and the flight of stairs on the outside that will take you up to the small parking lot. This will make a very awkward and unusual stage and not what is visually indicated on the plans.

In addition: Bathrooms for grade 1 and 2 are a distance from their classrooms. It is very important to keep them as close as possible to the classrooms for the same reasons that ‘K’ has bathrooms in their rooms.

Also, the staff room will not accommodate staff. Brookline has a tradition of ‘Friday morning breakfast’ for teachers. There is no space to continue with this tradition. It seems that the space you have provided will not even allow teachers to lunch together. I do not want this request for staff room space to seem as though it a place for social occasions but more as ‘business lunch’ place…..where the business of education is continued.

May I add, this building is in need of additional bathrooms for teachers. There is only one shared bathroom (male/female) on the first floor. There have been many occasions where the waiting line was 5 deep. I understand that the building may have the required number of bathrooms for a school – but I can’t help but think that meeting those antiquated requirements should not stop us from real, needed improvement.

May I suggest that you look at Heath School in Brookline to see a good example of a well thought out music room – central to the school.

Thank you for considering my thoughts on the plans.

Stephanie Gardner

http://www.runkle.org/wp-content/uploads/tunnel.jpg

Seems feasible, and naturally complemented by the downsloping grade of land in that area. For clarity I whited out internal detail from the footprint of the building.

Establishing this connectedness seems to diminish the sense of loss conveyed by the building size, and the sense of the court being usable in only fixed ways. The court would become more accessible to major annual events (fall picnic, Halloween fair, etc) & spontaneous congregation, cleaning & maintenance might be simplified (gardening supplies & tools, snow equipment, etc) and breezy fresh air might be more plentiful. Two cons might be a concern for security and maybe cost.

http://www.belmont.k12.ma.us/chenery/gallery/images/image19.jpg
http://www.belmont.k12.ma.us/chenery/gallery/images/image18.jpg

Couple of points:

– As ours would be, their courtyard is surrounded by 3-stories on
multiple sides, increasing the hope that our court would receive
a fair amount of light.

– Their court is probably larger (the school seats 1100 kids, to our
proposed 560), but I doubt twice the size.

I’ve asked the architects to provide square footage of that site and
will post it when available. Ours would be 5000 sf, per the proposed
outside space estimate in the latest blog post. I’m going to email
the school to see if there are any lessons we might learn about
designing and using the space.

Though the HVAC system can compensate for all weather conditions, I’m hoping the classes will have operable windows and wondering, in terms of sun and air, what’s the impact of the built portion on the inner court and vise versa. I hope the architects are able to run light and air movement studies and solve the structure accordingly. The 1st graders, for instance, have frosted glass windows facing the lower part of the inner court, (4′ below) will they have natural light at some point during school day? will they have operable windows?
Acoustics can be challenging even when inner court is for quiet study (is there such thing?) The 1st graders that have frosted glass windows, will they be able to have the windows open during class?
Views? The inner elevations of the court will be the exterior views of 3rd and 4th grade all day long; 7th and 8th grade will have more sky. As much as I trust the architect for detailing the elevetions of the building, I would love for my kids to be able to catch a glimpse of sky and not the windows of the classes across the court.

As we have a small yard we need to make sure the inner court serves us for outdoor activities. In order for it to be functional year-round this court should be maintained; snow removal during winter and garden maintenance during other seasons. Will there be funds allocated toward this purpose?

I think that in order for this inner-court to serve the students, it should be somehow an extension of the Yard (not by having the K wing cantilivered because (a) immediate access to the yard is crucially important for little ones and (b) because the narrow dimension of the court is the problematic ). I do not have a solution to this problem, I would like it better with a lower Clinton Road elevation that also provide a large oppening to provide for access from the inner court to the yard. I would recreate this mass as an additional story to the existing Druce Street main entrance elevation (but this is just a wild, unprocessed idea.)

Thanks,

Michelle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3SfCUcesU0

- Paul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3SfCUcesU0

Issues raised:
1. How to maximize usable outdoor place space.
2. How to use land in front of the school at the corner of Buckminster and Chesham.
3. Parents and teachers would like an “Outdoor Classroom” space.
4. RED needs space to run their program.

With a few tweaks, I believe that Option C can best accomplish all of these goals.

1. Option C appears to have the most usable outdoor play space. The slope and flat area of the field are left intact and there is a large indented space between the 2 wings that could hold a structure. It looks like this indented space would also have some space left over to run around in. Parents seemed to be divided about whether all broken up space (as seen in Option A) or all open space (as seen in Option B) was the best way to go. I think both are important. With the possibility of cutting down to 3 lunches per day, it seems like a lot more kids will be outside at recess at one time. The indent with the structure will be very helpful in keeping the younger kids in a safe and semi enclosed area, yet it looks like they will still have room to run around. (Unlike in Option B where it is proposed that a structure be put in the triangular, sloping wedge of land along Chesham.) It would still be great if the large slope in the rear could be leveled.

2. People seemed enamored with Option B because of the Courtyard space, which is being conceived of as an “Outdoor Classroom”. I’m not convinced that this will be a successful space for this. In addition to the issue about maintenance of the space, I think it is going to be shady and isolated from nature. Right now, the space next to the Kindergarten wing is where parents hang out after school because it is shady. In option B, this Courtyard space will be enclosed all around with walls so I can’t see how this wouldn’t make it even shadier. I don’t know how much gardening the kids will be able to do here. Also- because it will be completely enclosed, animals that live in the neighborhood (rabbits, foxes, turkeys etc.) wouldn’t be able to get in, so kids wouldn’t be able use the space to look for signs of animal activity- tracks, nests etc.

Another thing to think about in Option B is that when kids look out their classroom windows, they are going to look across a fairly narrow courtyard to another part of the building, instead of being able to look off into the distance.

3. Could the space at the front corner of the school (Buckminster and Chesham) be converted to an “Outdoor Classroom” instead? It is sunny, not enclosed by walls and not really used by anyone. Maybe a permit could be gotten from the town so that the kids could garden here? Even if they are not allowed to garden, I think this space can somehow be converted to a classroom space that can be used to observe nature, plants, animals, weather etc.

4. RED needs space to run their program. Three dedicated rooms seems excessive, but one dedicated room and two shared rooms seems more reasonable. In Option C, the three 2nd grade classrooms being located across from the Cafeteria doesn’t seem to be ideal. If one of these 3 rooms was a dedicated RED space and the other 2 spaces were PDD classrooms, I think it would be a better utilization of the space. If RED could then use these 2 PDD classrooms after school, this area of the building would become an “RED wing” in the afternoon. They would have consolidated program space, next to the Cafeteria and the outdoors, which they use all the time.

The three 2nd grade classrooms could then move around the corner near the 1st grade, where they are now. It looks like the PK room would need to be moved in order for this to work.

The PK room could move to the space where it is proposed to put Guidance, on the main level across from the Admin offices.

Guidance could move around the corner to where Health is located, and Health could move to the 2nd level where the three RED spaces had been located. Health is being taught to 8th graders (and hopefully 7th graders next year as well), so it belongs on this level.

Those 2 other rooms that would be left on the 2nd level could be used for Music, (if a windowed solution isn’t figured out for a Music room in its present location on the bottom level), OT, PT, or small group space etc.

These are some suggestions about how Option C could work. I’m afraid that there is a lot of enthusiasm for Option B because of the Courtyard, but I’m not sure that this option is practical. In addition to no separate areas for playing in the back, a possibly shady courtyard with limited views to expanses of space, the organization of the interior spaces doesn’t seem to be as well thought out as in Option C. There are lots of little spaces tucked everywhere, with locations of some of these seeming arbitrary. The entry to the back part of the building from the lobby on the main level, or the entry to this part of the building on the other levels seems confusing. There are lots of corners and stairwells in the transition space to this part of the building that I don’t understand. Would the back part of the school feel isolated and hard to find?

Gym… where is the second activity space? This is a program that affects all of the students in the school.

I only see one plan with a meeting space by the front entry. I see many mornings where meetings are currently held in the cafeteria which feels like the right place for administration and parents to have a gathering point for discussion. I wonder what the space would look like in the basement.

Were the architects able to put windows in all rooms (music, ot, pt)?

..Sandy Costello – 4St, 3Hal, KP parent and RASP volunteer

The auditorium should have permanent, raked seating (so kids don’t have to sit on the floor and parents on folding chairs). It should not have parallel walls so it is more likely to have good acoustics for music, drama, film and lectures. It should be a focal point in the school, not an extra room at the end of a little-used hallway (a minor point, though … I don’t much care where the auditorium would be so much as that it exist).

Take a moment to visit the new Lincoln school’s auditorium to see what I mean. It’s central, warm (like a colonial era recital hall), accessible (stage is on the same level as the rooms where pianos and other equipment are kept), not too large, and only multi-purpose in the sense that any good auditorium is used for several different purposes.

I know there are precious little details in these sketches, but I also know that the project is going to move forward quickly. If you care about having an auditorium befitting the stature of our school, please let the renovation planners know.

You can read more about school auditorium design at this site I just found about school design:
http://www.schooldesigner.com/Articles/Auditorium-Design.asp

1. My first reaction when I saw the sketches was, “Where’s the Auditorium?” At least 3 parents that attended the input meeting said that they really wanted to have an Auditorium back at the school. My guess is that the Multi-Purpose room was created as a temporary solution to a space problem. It is not an ideal solution. An Auditorium is the heart of a school, where the community comes together to celebrate and share in recitals, performances, meetings, lectures etc. The Multi-Purpose room did not perform up to this task.

The space allocated for the Multi-Purpose room (Auditorium) in the sketches also seems inadequate. The space appears to be very long and narrow which would make it very difficult for most of the audience to see what’s happening on the stage.

The locations of the Multi- Purpose room (Auditorium) and the Gym also don’t make sense to me. It seems to me like their locations should be swapped. The Auditorium should be located on the main level (at the heart) of the school along with the Library and the Main Office

2. It appears that the Gym is bigger than what we have now, which is great. Will it have a retracting wall so that the space can be divided in half when needed? What happened to the idea of a second “gym” space that was mentioned at the meeting? A second space with a regular height ceiling that could be used for yoga, dance etc? This space could be the “multi-purpose room”. It seems like instead of that space there are 2 big locker rooms. Who would be using those locker rooms? Do they have showers in them? Do the kids have time to change clothes before and after PE during the day? Are they mostly for after school sports?

3. It appears that the Cafeteria is bigger than what we have now. I believe it is supposed to be able to accommodate 3 lunches instead of the 5 or so that we have now. What improvements will be put in place to handle the acoustics and traffic flow that will be necessary to create a space where students have enough time to get through the lunch line and still have time to eat their lunch in a room with appropriate noise levels?

By moving the Cafeteria to the back of the building, how will the delivery trucks drop off their supplies? It looks like there is a receiving area at the front of the building. Will delivery people be bringing supplies in from the front and walking them through the building or will they be pulling into the staff parking lot at the rear, that is adjacent to the playground? This could be a safety hazard.

4. Are the 3 RED classrooms dedicated space for RED only, where they will be unused by the school all day? If so, this seems to defeat one of the goals of the renovation which is to provide more space for the entire school.

5. It seems like we would lose a lot of outdoor play space with options A and B. (How wide is that courtyard in option B?)

In general, I like option C the best, but I would swap the locations for the Gym “wing” and the Multi “wing” and I would put in an Auditorium instead of a Multi-Purpose Room. Maybe there could be a couple of small practice rooms next to the music room so that kids wouldn’t have to play their instruments out in the hallway like they do now.

Joanne Shaughnessy – 3J parent and RASP volunteer

Thanks,
Christian

The link that you provided worked ok for me. When you click on the link, it does bring up a thumbnail of the image that you then need to click on to see the larger document, but when I click on it (as well as when I click on the link on the site directly) it works. Can you give us more information about what the sequence of clicks was for you?

Sorry about this!

–rmm