Hi Kristine thank you for your offering of why LEAP can't go into the school. These same reasons is why it is difficult to have COA&HS have programming in many venues.Thank youLynne L
Sent from AOL on Android On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 3:09 PM, Kristine Barker<kristinebarke...@gmail.com> wrote: Good afternoon, I am a Lincoln resident, a parent to a student who attended Lincoln School and an educator in a neighboring district. I believe this is a unique perspective as I can see things from the perspectives of a parent, a resident concerned with the town’s finances and an educator. My son, now a junior at LSRHS, attended LEAP for seven years. As a full time working mother, LEAP was a blessing. My child was nurtured, educated, fed, loved and provided with various opportunities to increase his social and communication skills. He was exposed to new people, new experiences and appropriately and supportively challenged to engage in activities he may never have had the chance to try otherwise. My only child had a chance to just have fun playing with children his age, something he never got to do at home or where we live in South Lincoln that doesn’t allow for neighborhood play opportunities. When I would pick him up, he’d often ask for “a few more minutes” because he was excited by the opportunities provided to him by LEAP staff. The staff were incredible. They talked lovingly about students, they demonstrated enthusiasm for their work and they understood the responsibility of helping to raise other people’s children. I never once entered the LEAP building without an exuberant and cheerful greeting from Katie, the tireless and dedicated director of LEAP. And somehow, the LEAP team has managed to do all that with a dilapidated physical environment that does not even remotely meet their needs. I completely understand why the notion of moving LEAP into the school building makes sense to those who may not spend much time in a school building. Unless the school can provide LEAP with dedicated, not shared, space that can be fully accessed during the school day, it just won’t work. The LEAP staff deserve opportunities to set up their lessons, access materials and prepare for that day. In a working and busy school, that’s just not possible. I have worked in a school where the after school staff had to work around the rest of us. They would literally be prepping for their activities in their vehicles or squatting in corners of the building trying to create materials, get organized or collaborate with one another over student needs. Consequently, they are constantly working in an uncomfortable situation where their professionalism is not always visibly respected. They could never hang student work, because they literally had no walls. They could not use complex and highly engaging learning materials, because there was nowhere to store them. They could not meet as a team, because they did not have space to do so. They couldn’t provide nutritious snack options, because they had no access to cooking or cooling instruments. The students who attended the after school program felt othered, not included. I would hate to put LEAP in a similar situation. I realize and respect that we live in a largely affluent town where quality childcare may not be as much of a critical need as in other areas. However, for some of us, affordable childcare is an invaluable necessity so we can work and earn enough income to allow our families to grow and thrive in a wonderful town like Lincoln. Just like not everyone in our town may see the need for a community center where our aging population can access resources, not everyone may see why LEAP is not an entity which we can push aside or ignore. I hope this can help share some perspective as to how important LEAP is to our community. I am grateful for the many efforts and ideas shared to help solve the space challenges in our town. I appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to read everyone’s intelligent and unique ideas about how to solve these problems. I won’t even pretend to hold a tiny fraction of the knowledge others do on this subject. In my perfect world, we would ideally find alternatives that celebrate and support resources that benefit our youngest to our oldest residents. In fact, one might argue that combining these needs into one building could, in fact, greatly benefit both. I can’t think of anything more valuable to our older neighbors than watching our youngest residents thrive in a space that is happy, clean, safe and reflective of the diverse and unique needs of our town’s young students. Respectfully, Kristine Barker On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 11:55 AM kathryn hawkins <katiejhawkin...@gmail.com> wrote: Dear Lincoln- I would love to extend an invitation to anybody who would like to come visit LEAP during the peak hours of operation. We run during the hours of 2pm-6pm m, t, th, and f, 12pm-6pm on Wednesdays. On an average day we have over 100 children and 20 staff in constant motion. We are over seen by the Department of Early Education and Care, our program is not only child care for the 100 families we serve… but we offer enrichment, education, and a safe and caring space for children to feel “at home” while their families are at work.We are a non-profit and we rent yearly from the town . When you walk into our building it is covered in beautiful, creative art work, science projects, games, and laughter that the LEAP children are so proud of and that our amazing staff spend hours preparing to offer each day. We house an abundance of wonderful supplies, games, sporting goods, couches, air hockey tables, a kitchen that we bake in, etc..throughout the building and in our supply sheds.We have been lucky to occupy Pod C since 1985, and have made it the “home away from home” for so many children.We utilize the amazing green space that we are able to open our doors and pour out into, for a great game of soccer, capture the flag, kickball, imaginative play..and so on. LEAP is important to this community, we are not disposable and to think that we could just move into the school is an absurd idea. Remember “it takes a village to raise a child” and we are very much a part of this village! Please come visit, we would love to show you what LEAP is all about. Kathryn HawkinsDirector of LEAP781-259-0615 Sent from Gmail Mobile On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 10:58 AM Bob Kupperstein <bobk...@gmail.com> wrote: I believe that a major issue for LEAP using space within the schools is that they have a variety of activities with furniture/supplies/equipment, etc. in place for the kids when they arrive. Sharing space with the schools would most likely require extensive setup/tear-down on a daily basis (along with storage space), as they wouldn't have their own dedicated space. Based on our kid's experience at LEAP through their school years, it would seem like that would be a pretty major limitation on their activities and the operations of the program (especially considering that the starting/ending times are likely already the most hectic times for the staff). The existing set-up space is one of the things that makes LEAP such a great program for our kids. LEAP staff may have other reasons why sharing school space might not be so seamless - this is just one that occurred to me as a former LEAP-parent. -Bob On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 8:17 AM Magruder Donaldson <mcdonaldso...@gmail.com> wrote: There must be a way to accommodate LEAP in the new, spacious school…Craig Donaldson On Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 7:03 PM Peter Buchthal <pbucht...@gmail.com> wrote: The school is too big by any standard. We have 550 students with a declining school population. The architect and school administration at the time told us the building was designed for 650 students. More recently, the school architects publicly told fellow architects that the school was designed for 700 students. 9 grades (k-8) each have 4 separate classrooms. Only 2 of the 7 grades have enough students for 4 simultaneous classrooms. Applying the state education sizing guidelines for a new school, our 165,000 square feet should support over 1000 students. It would be helpful to our discussion if people can agree on certain facts. What exactly do people like about Plans A, B or C? I like none of them as I believe the premise of intergenerational mingling as a goal won't be accomplished with the limited available hours for senior programming at Hartwell because of the parking, traffic and safety concerns. The new community center will have senior programming by design only from 9 to 2:30 on M, Tu, Th, Fr and 9 to 12 on Wed. The CCBC presents parking as ample with 50 spots nearby without telling the community that the current users of Hartwell may already be using many if not most of the 50 nearby spots. So, we may only have 5 to 10 open spots at any given time or maybe even fewer if there are events/meetings going on at the main Hartwell building's multi purpose room, training room or School business office. I am afraid that the CCBC is sticking with a Community Center based in Hartwell for the wrong reasons. The town has an obligation to its seniors. I just don't want to build a core town building in a location that comes with so many restrictions/limitations. Peter Buchthal71 Weston Rd On Wed, Sep 27, 2023 at 10:58 AM John Mendelson <johntmendel...@gmail.com> wrote: You write as if everyone agrees the school has too much space. I, for one, don't. In my view, if there are lessons to be learned from the school building project, it is wise to examine the reasons why the town voted down the project in 2012, thereby rejecting $20.9 million in state funding. Hubris, perhaps well-intentioned but overly wrought disagreements about site and design, concerns about cost? Likely, all of the above. To my ear, this dialogue sounds very similar, and I cannot help but believe that if we kick this down the road, costs are only going to increase and the impact of the project diminished. I trust the work the CCBC has done and will very likely support their recommendation. John On Wed, Sep 27, 2023 at 7:22 AM Peter Buchthal <pbucht...@gmail.com> wrote: People of course are allowed to have their own opinions, but I don't believe this building project is about accepting our responsibility for taking care of our elders. As I have mentioned before, my father lived to 97 and was a big user of his local Council on Aging. You apparently believe that if one does not support the CCBC's decisions, you don't support our Council on Aging and its mission. This is far from the truth. Many on Lincoln Talk and others in town simply question the Council on Aging Hartwell generous building space requirements. Residents simply do not want to build a building that is bigger than our needs like we did with the school. There is also a healthy debate on whether it makes sense to build a COA/Community Center on the Hartwell Campus without sufficient parking and limited hours to protect the pre-school Magic Gardens and school age (5+) dropoff/Pickup from automobile running child parking lot mishaps. I am also not aware of any community center anywhere that intentionally colocates a senior center and daycare using a small shared parking lot. Many on Lincoln Talk and the town would hate to see the town build a huge building that is underutilized and repeats the lack of parking at Bemis Hall. As a small community with limited resources and the highest per capita debt in the commonwealth, we need to look at large projects with many eyes and many voices. It is a shame that up to now, the CCBC really hasn't listened to the public's concerns. In an effort to lower the cost and save between 3 and 4 million, I have previously asked why Leap can't be relocated into the school where it belongs. Almost all other school districts have extended day offerings within the school as the hours of a school and after school program dovetail perfectly. Maybe we should ask our new Superintendent if he could house Leap within the school? Does anyone know where Leap is going to run while the Hartwell Project is under construction? Peter Buchthal71 Weston Rd On Tue, Sep 26, 2023 at 6:03 PM john gregg via Lincoln <lincoln@lincolntalk.org> wrote: I am so surprised that a community that encourages acceptance and tolerance would further not doing the right thing like providing a place for kids, adults and elders should be able to congregate. It is about space, about money, about having to be held accountable for past neglect like providing a school for children. A place where the kids would be provided safe care at LEAP for parents who work. A place where adults could allow care for the ones who actually took care of them if they move back home. This is the same discussion when deciding about a new school, a bunch of intellectuals debating why things should not be provided to others like was provided to them. Best Regards, John Gregg -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
