The Beacon - West Babylon High School unveils new Performing Arts Center

The Beacon - West Babylon Schools Open New Fitness Center

The Beacon - Phase Two of West Babylon School District's Construction Project Nears Completion

The Southampton Press - Architects Revise School Plans

The Southampton Press - Board Wrestles with Auditorium Design

The Southampton Press - WHB Auditorium Redesigned

The Southampton Press - Architect Offers Board Peek at Auditorium

The New York Times - For New School Buildings, Customized Designs

Newsday - Rebuilt School Opens in Centerport

West Babylon High School unveils new Performing Arts Center
Thursday, June 8, 2006

It was a capital project over 5 years in the making and now West Babylon Senior High School finally unveiled their new, state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center. Complete with cloth seats, air conditioning, gradual stadium seating and a high-tech surround sound system, the Performing Arts Center comfortably seats 940 spectators. Members of the West Babylon Senior High School symphonic band, concert choir and orchestra were among the first to grace this state-of-the-art stage during the schools annual POPS Concert.

In photo above: high school students Daniel Foisset and Daniel O'Leary; Plant Facilities Administrator Ray Graziano; Assistant Superintendent for Finance Anthony Cacciola; Board of Education Trustee James Bocca; Associate Superintendent for Personnel Dr. Richard Walter; West Babylon High Vassallo; Board of Education Trustee Kathleen Jennings; High School Assistant Principal James Lynch; Board of Education Trustee Patrick Farrell; Babylon Town Supervisor Wayne Horsley; Town of Babylon Reciever of Taxes Corrine DiSomma; Board of Education Trustee Jerry Nocera; Drew Cacciola of Park East Construction; architects Joseph Catropa and Kirk Hatzmann; and high school students Nick Francesco and Dominic DeGaetano.

Inset photo: overview of the new auditorium.

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West Babylon Schools Open New Fitness Center
Thursday, June 1, 2006

The West Babylon School District recently celebrated the opening of their new fitness center at the high school. This state-of-the-art facility is used throughout and after the school day by student athletes and by adult education classes at night. The equipment was received through a grant approved by the federal government and will further enhance the district's measures in support of physical fitness.

Photo right: left to right are Babylon Town Supervisor Wayne Horsley; Director of Athletics Lou Howard; West Babylon High School Assistant Principal Susan Fiedler; Board of Education Trustees Patrick Farrell and Kathleen Jennings; High School Principal Ellice Vassallo; Board of Education Trustee Barbara Kenney; Board of Education Vice Presidenet Carmine Galletta; Assistant Superintendent for Finance Anthony Cacciola; Town of Babylon Receiver of Taxes Corrine DiSomma; Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Student Services Dominick Palma. Back row (L-R) West Babylon High School Assistant Principal James Lynch; Plant Facilities Administrator Ray Graziano; Superintendent of Schools Mel Noble; architect Joseph Catropa; Board of Education Trustee James Bocca; Drew Cacciola of Park East Construction and architect Kirk Hatzmann.

At left, The state-of-the art equipment at the fitness center in West Babylon High School.

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Phase Two of West Babylon School District's Construction Project Nears Completion
By Carolyn James • Thursday, February 9, 2006

Despite a setback of several months, phase two of the West Babylon capital project is on target said West Babylon school district officials. The construction management firm and the architect met with the school board last month and gave assurances, said school board president Lucy Campasano that the bulk of the work at the high school, including the new auditorium, will be completed by March 27, in time for the district's spring concerts.

"That is very important to us and the community because it is something that we planned on," said the president. "We have received the commitment from the contractor that the auditorium will be completed in time."

"We want this facility to serve as a source of pride for all residents," said Superintendent of Schools Melvin Noble. "People should have an opportunity to see what they have invested in, which is a firstrate facility in which to showcase our talented students."

The front entrance of the building will also be completed. Inside the auditorium, the stage is being installed and all of the seating, scenery equipment, lighting and speakers have already been put into place.

In addition the new fitness center is ready for use and the district is offering six adult-education programs there in the spring semester. "They will be at a very nominal cost for district residents andI invite everyone to consider registering," said Noble.
Also completed under phase one and two were the district's tennis courts, parking lots, outdoor basketball court and a new softball field for girls. Some additional fencing must still be added to the back of the high school, which is expected to also be completed by March.

Noble added that there have been very few change orders throughout the construction and that the board has reviewed the financial statements related to the project. They are satisfied that the amount of money available after completing the high school renovations, will be sufficient to install new roofs at the other 6 school buildings, as well as new libraries at Santapogue, South Bay, JFK and the Junior High School.

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Architects Revise School Plans
By Rebecca Cooper • Thursday, April 22, 2004

The Westhampton Beach School Board continued to hash out plans this week for the addition of class-rooms and a new auditorium to the high school, as architects came back to the table with another set of drafts.

The biggest change was a new design for the exterior of the auditorium, which architect Larry Salveson of Burton, Behrendt and Smith said now incorporates more of the building's current character. The new auditorium features a two-sided, glass-enclosed lobby with a ticket booth and concession area in the center.

Brick columns surround the entrances to the auditorium, which incorporates the very linear design of the front of the school building on Lilac Road. "We're looking to bring the boxy, linear design from the front of the school to all the entrances of the building," he told the board.

As they passed around the color rendering; board members nodded and smiled as they looked at the new design, quite a contrast from the board's reaction several months ago. Many board members felt that the architects' first, more modern design did not match the rest of the building.

Mr. Salveson also showed the board the newest layout of the large group instruction spaces [LGIs] that border the auditorium, which allows them to be on one level, to be opened into one large room, and also connects them to the rear of the theater. The architects also added small bath-rooms near the LGIls so that students in those classrooms have ready access to the facilities.

Mr. Salveson also drew the board's attention to a few new elements under consideration, including a second hallway to access the LGIs and the auditorium, and a possible expansion of the auto shop and technology education area "Right now the construction manager is looking at those, and we're talking about whether cost could be afforded there," he said, pointing out that any addition of square footage has the potential to put costs over budget.

There were also some changes to the parking layout, which board members felt at the last meeting went a little too close to some of the green areas of the campus Mr. Salveson said that the total number of parking stalls in the proposal is now 408, which is still 90 more than currently available. He removed roughly 40 spots from the original design.

Lance Franklin from the construction manager, Triton Construction, also updated the board on the progress of the planning stage.
"I know for right now you don't see a lot happening," he said, "but there is quite a bit going on," The project is on schedule, and the company has gone out to bid for the survey work for the site, he said. The plan is still to submit the final plan for the high school work in October 2004, and the elementary school plan for the end of the year.
The next School Board meeting is scheduled for April 26 at 7 pm. in the high school library.

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Board Wrestles with Auditorium Design
By Rebecca Cooper • Thursday, March 18, 2004

The Westhampton Beach School Board wrestled with the design of the school’s future auditorium on Monday night, as a representative from the school's architectural firm presented yet another design for the arrangement of the new performance space and its surrounding classrooms.

Larry Salvesen of Burton, Behrendt and Smith showed the board some more sketches that solved a few of the problems raised at a previous meeting, including keeping access to the school’s auto shop open and leaving room for various utilities on the south side of the building.
Mr. Salvesen presented new drawings of the auditorium as separated from the main building slightly, to allow room for the utilities and to maintain the auto shop entrance. He also placed two large group instruction classrooms to the east of the auditorium. He said that though he had moved the new part of the building more into the parking lot, he had still managed to maintain the number of parking spaces laid out in the original plan.

But some board members expressed concern that in the newest layout the large group instruction spaces would not be on the same level, and therefore could not be opened up to one big multi-purpose room.

Board Vice President Bryan Dean also pointed to one parking area that might infringe on the middle school playground. He also brought up that parking on the north side of the lot was getting very close to the high school's playing fields.

Board member Beecher Halsey also pointed out that the plan would require the removal of some of the campus’s only original trees, around the outside of the tennis courts along Oneck Lane.

"This way, we've lost every tree on the west side of the school," he said.

Mr. Salvesen then quickly sketched another version of the auditorium, which would allow the adjoining classrooms to be on the same level as one another, and thus be connectable, but still keep the auditorium away from the building slightly. The board seemed receptive to the plan, and asked to see more concrete drawings of that possibility at its next meeting.

After the building presentation, the .board moved on to budget hearings as it continues to plan the district’s 2004/2005 operating budget. Board members heard from music coordinator Shaun lohnson, who requested that a part-time music teacher be hired for the middle school; that an additional music course to help students fill their fine arts requirements be added, and that several new instruments be purchased for students that will be entering the district next year.

Technology coordinator Ronald Cohen also presented his proposed budget for the lease of laptop coomputers for sixth grade students next year in a new computing initiative, and Assistant Superintendent to. Personnel and Instruction Sharon Clifford-outlined her budget, which includes a computer integration specialist to accompany the new laptops.

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WHB Auditorium Redesigned
By Rebecca Cooper • Thursday, February 26, 2004

The Westhampton Beach School Board continued the design process for its new capital project this week, as it reviewed sketches of the proposed additions to the high school at Monday's board meeting.
Architect Roger Smith of Burton, Behrendt and Smith presented the board with, among other things, his recommended design for the high school's new auditorium. The original design for the 800-seat auditorium included a balcony and two large-group instructional spaces, but upon reconsideration, Mr. Smith told the board on Monday that he felt the space might be better used.

The current design for the auditorium places 809 seats on one level by widening the building—Mr. Smith pointed out that the last row of seats is no further away than it was in the first draft. The large group instruction spaces have been placed outside of the actual auditorium space.

"The beauty of it is that we have the same size auditorium, and a little more flexibility with those large group instruction spaces," School Superintendent Lynn Schwartz said this week. "It’s a very exciting design."

School Board President Dr. Gregory Frost expressed support for the design this week as well.

Dr. Frost said that he is looking forward to seeing changes in the exterior design in the auditorium now that the interior design has changed. Board members expressed some hesitation about the architect's original exterior design, which included a decorative arch.
Mr. Smith also showed the board a sketch of the new science wing, and said that after meetings with the science faculty at the school, he determined that the majority of science classrooms will be built and equipped for use by all the science classes. The only room that will be highly specialized will be the lab used for marine science.

Renovation of the high school's main office nurse's office and guidance office are also part of the project, and Mr. Smith outlined the shifting of several rooms in that area that will allow for additional space for guidance.

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Architect Offers Board Peek at Auditorium Plan
By Rebecca Cooper • Thursday, February 5, 2004

Architect Roger Smith of Burton, Berendt and Smith presented not exterior designs, as the Westhampton Beach School Board expected, but some ideas for redesign of the proposed auditorium, in a presentation at the board's meeting on Monday.

The original plans included an 800-seat auditorium facility, including a 150-seat balcony, with two large group instruction areas available underneath the balcony. On Monday, Mr. Smith showed board members and community members an alternative plan for the building, which would include putting all the seating on one level by widening the building, and creating a back section of seats that would then serve as the large-group classrooms.

Mr. Smith said some of the discussion of the auditorium's design came about after he and his team met with members of the faculty that will be running a theater department out of that auditorium.

"First, they looked at the stage and saw that it wasn't that much bigger than what they're using now," he said. "They asked if we could give them more room in the wings." That would mean widening the building and moving it out from the existing structure, the architect said, which got him thinking about the possibility of adding more seats to the width and removing the balcony.

The architect also said in addition to lowering the roof of the building, removing the balcony will most likely improve acoustics in the auditorium, which is an important consideration. "We don't want to trade off auditorium value to accommodate the [instructional spaces]," Mr. Smith told the board.

Board member James Hulme expressed some concern that removing the balcony would make the venue seem overly big and impersonal. "The balcony makes it more intimate than when someone's sitting in the back row of a huge auditorium," he said.

But according to what the architects have investigated so far, the seats in the last row of the auditorium would be no farther away than in the original design, if the house were to be widened, according to Mr. Smith. The architect said that his firm is still looking into the financial aspects of building the auditorium without a balcony, as well as the effect the new design will have on the plans for the parking lot.
Mr. Smith said that he felt it also may be beneficial to the school to have the seats all in one group for the auditorium's daytime uses for student assemblies and performances.

In other building considerations, the architect mentioned that he had met with science faculty members to discuss whether it would be possible to design the science rooms so that they could be used for more than one science discipline.

The board gave Mr. Smith leave to explore fully the various possibilities of the auditorium design and the building configuration, and asked for a full report, including floor plans, by the next board meeting on February 23.

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For New School Buildings, Customized Designs
By Carole Paquette • Sunday, October 12, 2003

The public schools being built on Long Island today are a far cry from most of those of the past, which were often constructed from uniform blueprints, producing three-story boxlike brick structures in the 1940's and one-story rambling brick buildings in the 1960's.

Today, much more effort is taken to design or remodel schools in ways that reflect the community and its needs, according to those in the business of designing schools. ''While some concepts transcend all districts -- such as the need for natural light, good acoustics, open space and color finishes -- today's designs are dictated by how the district educates its students, and some have additional concepts, such as features that reflect its history or location,'' said Edward Casper, a principal architect with Wiedersum Associates of Hauppauge, which designed the new 187,000-square-foot William Floyd Middle School in Moriches.

Roger P. Smith, a principal at Burton Behrendt Smith, an architectural firm in Patchogue, said: ''We don't want the cookie-cutter schools of the past. Today, it is necessary to take the absolute needs of the children and combine them with a statement significant to each community.''
In designing the sprawling junior-senior high school for the newly merged Eastport-South Manor Central High School District in Manorville, which opened last month, Mr. Smith said he had turned to a concept called an ''academical village'' used by Thomas Jefferson in designing the University of Virginia in the early 1800's. That plan included rows of individual houses for the professors -- each house containing lecture rooms and living quarters -- which were connected with the student dormitories by two colonnaded passageways. Other passageways connected dining halls and more student rooms.
The design for the 372,000-square-foot Eastport-South Manor Junior Senior High School materialized after years of planning by the two districts to create a school that would be economical and safe for day and night use and allow children in Grades 7 to 12 to interact safely, Mr. Smith said.

''In my mind, Jefferson's academical village made sense,'' he said. ''There was the hierarchy of spaces, easy movement and the separation of functions, like a village. The main corridor would be like his idea of a strolling Main Street, which interconnects all the functions.''

The $88 million school in eastern Suffolk basically consists of five attached buildings, called wings, that house commonly used facilities and 113 classrooms that range from 800 to 2,500 square foot. The biggest spaces are for large-group instruction.

The wings -- connected by corridors that Mr. Smith compares to side streets -- are clustered in a U-shape around a central building that is attached only by its ''Main Street'' -- a 20-foot-wide corridor -- to the others.

The main corridor runs through the 29,643-square-foot central building, which includes the school's entrance, and connects the building to the physical education and fine arts wings on one end and academic wings on the other. The administrative and guidance offices are in the front of the central building, and a 9,000-square-foot media center is in the rear.
The cafeteria wing is set behind the central building and is connected by a smaller corridor to the gymnasium and the academic wings.

Lawrence Salvesen, the project's architect, said the green color of ''the framed and tinted windows and shingled roofs ties into the rural community and the white Tuscan columns bring a classical look.''
Mr. Smith said, ''By creating this village-style school, it gives the community a signature historic building instead of just a big box.''
Fanning/Howey Associates of Celina, Ohio, and SBLM Architects of New York City also worked on the project.

The school has a capacity of 2,200 students, who come from Eastport and Manorville. It has a current enrollment of 590 students in the junior high school and 854 in the senior high. ''Most of the growth has been in Eastport, where the population has been increasing up to 10 percent a year for more than two years,'' said the superintendent, B. Allen Manella.

About 10 miles south on 34 acres in Moriches is the new $38 million William Floyd Middle School, which also opened last month.
A key to its design was the district's ''goal to keep the students focused within their own grade-level area so they wouldn't spend time walking all over the school to classes,'' said Mr. Casper.

The school has three wings that fan out from a central 1,500-square-foot lobby. The seventh and eighth grades are in a two-story wing, and the sixth grade is in a one-story wing. A third wing contains the 4,000-square-foot cafeteria, gymnasium and 10,000-square-foot music area, with a 500-seat auditorium. It can be locked off for security and public use.

With the exception of special programs, like physical education, each grade level is contained within its own area, with classrooms built around the perimeter and science and technology rooms in the center.
Sets of two 770-square-foot classrooms were built with a shared partitioned wall so the space could be doubled for larger group instruction. Each grade level has a special suite with offices for guidance counselors and administration.

The 5,000-square-foot library at the front of the building near the main lobby was designed as a centerpiece.

The school is part of the William Floyd School District's $200 million construction and reorganization plan, which included dividing the middle school population and creating a second middle school. Each school now has 1,400 students, according to Richard Hawkins, the superintendent.

The district, which was named for a signer of the Declaration of Independence from New York, covers the communities of Mastic Beach, Shirley and Moriches. It has a total enrollment of 10,500 students.

''There have been a lot of new homes going up out here, but we don't have a lot of open land left, so I think we will top out in about two years,'' he said. The new school is about 10 percent below capacity.
ON a busy main street in Mineola, Nassau County, about 50 miles to the west, a new public school for prekindergarten and kindergarten recently opened. The 62,429-square-foot two-story building resembles a traditional school, but there is no hint that small children are within.
This was a conscious feature of the design, according to Michael Spector, a principal with the Spector Group, an architectural firm in North Hills that designed the building.

''Our mission was to design a school that would protect as well as nurture,'' he said. ''We had to make it very secure as well as creative and a beautiful piece of architecture for the community. The need for security today is of the utmost importance. The exterior shows it is a good school but doesn't reflect that there are little children inside.''
The $10.5 million building, with 19 classrooms on the ground floor and district offices on the second, was designed by the Spector architect Michael Manetta. The hallways and ductwork are bright with color, and the gymnasium is filled with light through its translucent walls and roof.
There is a canopied front door to mark the main entry on busy Willis Avenue; however, the drop-off area is on a side street. The colorful outdoor playground is enclosed by the building on three sides, visible from large corridor windows. A bright red high metal fence faces the side street.

According to Mr. Smith there are many innovative concepts being used in today's public schools, including ''emotive architecture'' that creates ''a sense of excitement that makes the child want to be there.''
In explanation, Mr. Smith described some of the firm's newest projects. The South Country Elementary School in Bay Shore, across the Great South Bay from the Fire Island Lighthouse, was designed with a lighthouse-style tower set over a portion of the reading area to give children the sensation of being inside the lighthouse.
The Washington Drive Primary School in Centerport, which opened in January, was designed with a nautical motif to make students feel a connection with the nearby waterfront.

In the building's 34-foot-high atrium, students walk across a linoleum map of Long Island with the North and South Forks at the entry door and Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty at the library. Within the 2,270-square-foot library, a seating area is shaped like the bow of a ship.

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Welcome Aboard, Mates! Rebuilt School Opens in Centerport
By John Hildebrand • Monday, January 6, 2003

Even if their parents' sailboats have been put in storage for the winter, youngsters entering the newly renovated Washington Drive Primary School in Centerport today won't want for associations with the sea.
Not with all those porthole-style windows illuminating the school library, or the ship's wheels that flank both cafeteria lines. Indeed, the entire building reflects a maritime theme, as well as a growing nationwide effort among architects to design public schools that can inspire young minds as well as shield them from rain and snow.

"It's one of my favorite projects that I've ever done," said Roger Smith, managing partner of the Patchogue-based architectural firm, Burton, Behrendt & Smith, that did the design work on the $22- million project. "We'd really like to think that we're getting the kids involved in the building itself. In the 1960s and '70s, a lot of the emphasis was just getting the buildings done."

Old-timers familiar with the boxy, beige-brick Washington Drive School of almost a half century ago might not recognize the new model, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Saturday. The new school stands on the same hill overlooking Centerport Harbor, but it's more than double the size of the old building at 100,000 square feet, and a quantum leap in terms of style.

Buses pulling into the school's driveway today will pass towers of umber brick and galvanized steel - not unlike the entrances to cruise-ship piers. The bus passengers, mostly 6- and 7-year-olds, will be guided inside a vaulted, three-story atrium with a floor almost entirely taken up with a map of Long Island guarded by playful dolphins. A hand-carved sign above will announce that they are entering the "U.S.S. Washington Drive," and school staffers will be on hand in sailor caps to welcome them aboard.

"Just something to get kids' imaginations going," said Leah Freese, a school librarian, who has borrowed a captain's hat for the occasion.
The remodeled school, which is part of the Harborfields district, was a long time coming. Built in 1955 as a neighborhood elementary school, it was closed in 1983 as enrollments dwindled, and remained vacant for all but two years thereafter. Proposals to sell the building fell through, and residents three years ago approved a $52.8 million bond issue that included funds for Washington Drive's renovation.

Initially, the building will serve all the district's kindergartners and first-graders - about 500 students housed until now in a wing of Harborfields High School. Next year, 270 second- graders will be added. Equipment has been installed with an eye toward children who are small and nautically minded. There are two playgrounds, each with benches that are actually giant cleats usually used to secure a ship's ropes.
Designers say they wanted a building that fit the community - Centerport is a boaters' haven. Beyond that, the renovation is part of a national movement toward public-school buildings that are airier, brighter and more imaginative. The architectural firm is a prize-winner in school design, but by no means the only innovator in the field.

"One of the broad themes these days is the creation of a much more dynamic environment," said Jane Gertler

Some features of the new Washington Drive School may require getting used to - for instance, two multilevel corridors designed to resemble undulating waves.

"We've been joking that we're going to supply everyone with Dramamine," said principal Irene Berkowitz.

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