Like many other towns across the nation in the midst of an educational revolution, the community of Old Town faces an important issue: how to make the transition from decades-old community schools to a new consolidated facility. Community sentiment is strong for the city’s four community schools despite the poor condition of the facilities. Additionally, safety and educational benefits are strong concerns in the construction of the new school. The move will affect Old Town for decades – in employment opportunities, educational assessment and community integrity. Ultimately, the question is how best to meet the needs of Old Town’s children in the transition from old to new.

Old Town’s move toward building a consolidated facility counters a national trend of regional school closure in favor of smaller local schools. Forty years ago, the educational trend favored the closing of small community-based schools in favor of larger, more efficient schools. Today, key educators view this earlier movement as a mistake, making Old Town’s decision to construct the consolidated facility somewhat questionable. According to school administrators, however, attention to individual students will not be neglected in the larger school because of special minicommunities called “learning pods.”

The proposed design of the new school is integral to the community-based environment educators want to offer. The school will be divided into self-contained areas with classrooms, restrooms and community spaces, where students and teachers can have presentations, work on projects or socialize. This design emphasizes community among each small group of students of approximately 100, who will progress together from kindergarten through fifth grade. The design does not isolate students from the other pods, however. The school will have a shared cafeteria, gymnasium,

playground, library, art center and music-orchestra rooms.

For many of the students coming from the community schools, access to the wide variety of services in the new facility will be an unprecedented opportunity. Access to a full-size gymnasium, along with an abundance of liberal arts facilities, suggests the growing importance of music, technology and visual arts in today’s schools. The larger facilities of the new school will be available for use by the community and the high school, helping not only to ease the heavy demands on the high school’s facilities, but also to strengthen bonds among older students, younger students and the community as a whole.

Even if the design of the new school seems adequate, if not extravagant, the proposed location of the facility remains a concern. The proposed building site is behind the Old Town-Orono YMCA and the attached strip mall on the outer edge of the city’s residential areas. Though the secluded location eliminates the issue of dropping children off at roadside – a safety concern at two of the community schools – additional problems arise. The only access to the new school would be from Stillwater Avenue, where the high volume of traffic already is an issue during the morning hours. Transportation would need to be found for the 65 or so students who now walk to school. Administrators don’t think the potential aesthetics or traffic conditions will be serious enough to merit considerable attention, however, and remain optimistic about the new school.

Chris Avila, principal of the Herbert Sargent and Helen Hunt schools, seems especially confident of the success of the new school. He believes that “the time is right” and that the change “will benefit the students.” Meeting the needs of each student in the present schools is of particular concern, and many believe the current schools offer unequal facilities. The new school would assure that every student receives the same chance for success, and the administrators believe the success of each student is the utmost concern.

Nonetheless, many are sorry to see the old schools go. The community schools have a legacy and character the new school simply cannot have. Many adults in the area went to the old schools, and they see the schools as part of the community’s heritage. Unfortunately, the undeniable truth is that these schools must go. Many of the schools are unable to meet many building codes, and the incorporation of new standards is simply not feasible. The signs of age are clear in the schools, from the cracking stone floors to the dulled brick walls. Though the schools have history and character that cannot be replaced, keeping the schools in use for much longer is simply impossible. The community, in general, seems to accept the necessity of change. Though many hate to see the end of a legacy, the old schools must be replaced with the new.

Despite the concerns surrounding the closing of the old schools and the opening of the new school, most Old Town residents seem optimistic that the new school will help their children succeed, and will improve the quality of the community in the process. The fate of the old schools still lies undetermined, but the potential of turning the Helen Hunt School into a public safety building, and the Herbert Sargent School into a community center, has been discussed. The fate of employees at the old schools also is not set. Although most of the current faculty will likely have a future at the new school, the transition will be turbulent at the least. The construction of the school is ultimately for one purpose: to train Old Town’s children for the future so they may have success and satisfaction in their lives. This purpose is one for which we cannot draw a map.

The writers are students at Old Town High School. They also contribute to the school paper, The Screamer.