Questions – Paul Trattner - Coldspring Community Association
Answers - Larry Snyder - Waldorf School of Baltimore
July 2007
-What steps (legal or community wide) remain before you start construction?
The Baltimore City Planning Commission approved the plans for the addition
to the existing elementary school at its June 28 meeting. The Maryland State
Department of Education has approved the educational plan for the start of
the high school. Our application for a building permit has been filed with
the City and we expect final approval before the end of the summer. As promised
at our last public meeting, we will hold a meeting prior to the start of construction
to review the contractor's plans for construction
-Is the high school project fully funded?
We have been working on raising money for the construction of the addition
for the elementary school and the start-up costs for the high school for
approximately 10 months. To date we have raised $2.8 million in what is known
as the quiet phase of our capital campaign. This is the phase where we approach
major donors and ask for their support of our project. We are approximately
halfway to our goal. We will begin the public phase of our campaign in the
fall of 2007.
We have discussed financing with several banks in the area and we anticipate
finalizing the financing in late summer of 2007.
-When will construction begin?
A definite date for the start of construction has not been finalized, but
we anticipate that construction will begin in the fall of 2007.
-How long will it take to complete the high school project?
The actual construction of the addition to the elementary school will take
approximately 12 months once construction begins. The high school will be
created by adding one grade each year until we have all four grades of the
high school.
Our plan is to add the ninth grade in September 2007; a tenth grade in September
2008; an eleventh grade in September 2009; and a twelfth grade in September
2010.
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-What is the proposed total enrollment for the high school?
A fully enrolled high school will follow the same pattern as our elementary
school in that we will have only one class per grade. The typical grade in
the high school will have 25 students. A fully enrolled high school will
have approximately 100 students. We anticipate that it will take several
graduating classes to reach our goal of full enrollment. The first ninth
grade has 12 students enrolled for September 2007. We anticipate numbers
in the range of 12-15 for each of the first years of the high school.
-Where will the students be housed for the academic year 2007-2008?
The homeroom for the first ninth grade of 12 students will be in the Mercantile
Building in one of the classrooms not currently occupied by our nursery/kindergarten
program. The greatest majority of their classes will be in the elementary
school building.
-How many students for the first year? Second year? Etc?
As of July, 2007 we have 12 students enrolled in the first ninth grade. We
expect that each of the first classes will have between 10 and 15 students
in them. So after four years, we will have between 50 and 70 students in
the high school.
-What parking plans will be in effect for the additional student population?
Normally, high school students do not have driver's licenses before the end
of the 10th grade. We will limit the number of students who can bring their
cars to school once this becomes an issue in the second year of our high
school. We will designate parking spaces in our garage for these students
or will provide
spaces along the rear driveway into the school.
-What parking plans are in effect for sports and special events for the gymnasium/theater
complex?
First, the gymnasium/theater will be used by the school for all school assemblies
that are currently being held in the multi-purpose room of the Mercantile
Building. Parking for these events will be the same as for the events currently
held.
Once the high school is several years old we will have enough students to
field teams in basketball and volley ball in the winter, and maybe soccer
in the
fall. We will not be large enough to compete with the larger high schools
in the area in any of these sports. We will more than likely be competing
with
smaller schools such as Odyssey, Jemicy, and the Washington Waldorf School.
We compete with schools of a similar size in the middle school currently.
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-Who will be allowed to rent the new gymnasium/theater complex?
As we presently do with the multi-purpose room in the Mercantile Building,
we will rent the space to residents of Coldspring Newtown and the Woodlands,
along with families currently registered in the school. The space will be
available when the school is not using it for school related purposes.
-What steps have been taken to fix the roof of the Mercantile Building?
We lease the building from the City of Baltimore through the Department of
Housing and Community Development. We have been in negotiation with them for
several years to get the roof of the building replaced. The City has made several
attempts to repair the roof which have ended unsuccessfully. The School has
paid to replace about 25% of the total area because it was leaking so badly
that it was damaging the interior of several spaces. We are currently working
with the Assistant Commissioner of HCD to get the roof replaced. As of the
middle of July, the Department of Public Works has advertised the job to replace
the roof on the Mercantile Building with a bid opening in the middle of August
and work to begin in September. We will keep you posted on the progress of
this project.
-Do you pay rent to the City of Baltimore?
Yes, we do pay rent to the City. The School has also put more than $175,000
in improvements to the building in recent years, including the replacement
of 25% of the roof, new windows and curtains in the multi-purpose room, a
new floor in the multi-purpose room, new carpeting in the hallway, upgrades
to
the building's systems to bring it into compliance with the fire code and
building code, replaced tiles in the classrooms, and numerous projects to
eliminate
lead paint and asbestos issues in the building's systems.
-How many students are enrolled in the Waldorf School now? (elementary-middle
school)
We anticipate that there will be 192 students enrolled in the school at the
start of the 2007-2008 school year. They will be distributed as follows:
45 in the nursery/kindergarten; 80 in grades 1-5; 55 in grades 6-8; and 12
in
grade 9.
-Who is in charge of the (soccer) fields on Tamarind?
The soccer fields are owned jointly by the Baltimore City School system,
the Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Waldorf School of Baltimore.
During
the school year, we share the use of the fields during and after the school
day. By agreement with the other two parties, the Waldorf School in charged
with maintaining the fields and leasing to any outside parties who might
use the fields after school use. Those using the fields are required to sign
a
contract and provide evidence of insurance.