Ever since the Garden City School District passed a $36.8 million School Investment Bond back in 2009, the upgrades throughout the district have been quite substantial. And while most of it has gone towards infrastructure, external visible improvements have rightfully been a source of pride for the board, which has taken to conducting tours at the different schools preceding the monthly public meetings that are normally held at Garden City High School. On the night of the school board meeting held on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at the Homestead Building, the school board, administration and Superintendent Dr. Robert Feirsen went on a guided tour of the building by Homestead Principal Dr. Suzanne Viscovich.
Feirsen described the tour as a new tradition started last year where administration travels around each of the district’s school buildings in the Fall to observe its current offerings and recent upgrades.
“We’re comprised of seven different schools, each with something wonderful and special to offer,” Feirsen said.
As a conclusion to the tour, Viscovich and some of her students gave a presentation on the school’s bucket filler program, which is based on the Carol McCloud book Have You Filled A Bucket Today? Viscovich said that the Stratford Avenue School adopted the program several years ago, and inspired Homestead to do the same.
“In the beginning of each school year I visit each classroom, read the book to the children and get some ideas of how they can be bucket fillers – being kind to their classmates,” Viscovich said.
Reading aloud passages and displaying a video of the children in class writing their bucket filler ideas and sharing them received a lengthy round of applause from everyone attending.
In addition, an update was given on the district’s $36.5 million dollar 2009 School Investment Bond and Energy Performance Contract, where district administration announced progress on two open projects related to the bond – new doors and a door-lock security project.
According to Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Dana DiCapua, the doors at the Stratford Avenue School are properly installed, and at this point, most of the items for the door-lock security project are ordered and a few doors and areas are in need of review.
“We are in the process of updating the purchase order to finish things up,” DiCapua said. “Some of the large-spaced doors and locks have already been installed, and we are moving along as expected – this will happen over the course of the year and maybe into next summer, it’s a lot of area and a lot of locks.”
Mike Smith, a project manager and representative from Con Edison Solutions, also gave an update on projects across the district relating the bond, saying, “we’re hoping to be done with any major physical work at the high school, from a repair standpoint, by the end of November, and all physical work by the end of December – we’re very close to being completely finished.”
