Updates on the expansion

Well, a lot has happened since our last post and there's a lot of work still to be done!

Firstly we'd like to thank everyone who wrote, called, e-mailed or faxed their Common Council member and the Mayor's office in support for our bid for School 36. The Common Council voted unanimously to approve our contract. After more than a year of working on acquiring the building, that was a huge step forward for EVCS. But there's still more to be done.

Now we've scheduled an environmental consultant to come and perform Phase II testing so we can be fully apprised of any hazards before the building is closed on. We also have an amendment to add another Kindergarten class this fall at 124 Elmwood in anticipation of our expansion that the building purchase makes possible. Since it looks like we've only got 10 available slots after our siblings are admitted, it will be a great day if we can bring another 25 students into our school! That will be voted on by the Board of Regents in mid-May and we'll certainly let everyone know as soon as we hear anything. Our lottery will be held on April 1st at the school, but if our 2nd K is approved, we will draw those names from our waiting list after the vote by the Regents.

It's also a busy time while we're in the midst of our renewal. We are integrating middle school programs and schedules into our new charter. We hope to have everything in place for a 7th grade in our 2011-2012 school year with an 8th grade to follow the year after. This is a crucial time in our school's existence and we want all of our families and members of our community to help us to retain our close-knit culture while we're growing slowly and organically, from the ground up.

Thanks again to everyone and we'll post something new when we've got more news to report.

Best wishes!