DOCUMENT RESUME ED 085 902 EA-005 812 AUTHOR Wolff,Max; Stein, Annie TITLE A Plan for Middle Schools, Buffalo, New York. A Study of Sites, Organization and Program, Part III, Component No. 4. Final Report. INSTITUTION Center for Urban Education, New York, N.Y. SPOVS'-AGENCY' Office of Education (DREW), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE. Mar 70 NOTE 199p.; This document contains 171 leaves, some of which are 11 inches wide by 8 inches long (tables) and require two microfiche frames )4 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65-HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS Building Obsolescence; City Problems; "Construction Needs; Courses; Defacto Segregation; Educational Complexe,s; Educational Needs; Educational Parks; *Educational Programs; *Middle Schools; Program . Design; Relevance (Education); School Design; *School Organization; *School Planning; *Site Selection; Staff Role; Urban Schools IDENTIFIERS Buffalo; New York State; *Project 1990 ABSTRACT At present, the section of Buffalo in whichthe majority of the residents are white carries most of the burden of the K-8 schools with their extremely limited seventh and eightsgrade offerings. The sections of the community in which the majority of the residents are black now carry the-heavy burdens of teacher shortage and teacher turnover that result in lower educational achievement. '- All the schools auffer from lack of even the most fundamental equipment such as books, dictionaries, globes, and maps., The 'diddle School Complexes can provide a solution that will cost substantially less than simply replacing the existing old buildings at their present locations. The Complex concept also opens up a new potential for a much higher quality of education available to all children on the basis of real equality and without segregation. Each. Complex would belong to a larger community as a whole; responsive to and !responsible to that total community. This study attempts to plan locations, attendance areas, and organizations for middle schools to make it feasible for the board of Education in Buffalo to eliminate racial imbalance, progressively,, at least from the fifth grade on. Ways to meet this goal are described within the context of the severe plant obsOlescence probleM and the urgent need to provide ways of improving the quality of schooling at every grade level for every 8` pupil. (Author) 4, - r 1 I P I 1 % I 0 I f 0 t t A \ w V . 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The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the position or policy at the Office of Education and no official endorsement by the Office of Education should be inferred. March 1970 March 25, 1970. ir. Eugene Johnson, President Board of Education Union Free School District No. 1 Toun of Tonawanda Kenmore, New York Dear Mr. Johnson: We are submitting herewith reports on Component g13. and #4.of Project 1990 in accordance with the contractual arrangements dated December 16, 1968. This final report is a revision of previous reports subMitted to Dr. Joseph I'ianch, the Superintendent\of Schools of Buffalo. It reflects considerations and suggestions made for improving the report by members of the Superintendent's staff. are,hopeful that the conclusions and recommendations of this report will be found most useful in improving educational facilities as well as educational prbgrams in the public schools of Buffalo. Because of the widespread interest in planning for middle schools, ue respectfully suggest that this report should be made available to all to whom it might be useful. We express our deep appreciation to all who cooperated in this undertaking. 2./ Robert A. Dentler Director RAD:m1 CENTER FOR URBAN EDUCATION 212-889-7277 105 MAD!SON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY 10016 C,6NTENTS PAGE CHAPTER- Acknowledgements A New Middle School Program I 3 Considerations in Planning Middle Schools Criteria for Choosing Sites Metropolitan EduCational Parks 10 II Urgent Problems of the Buffalo Public Schools Old Buildings and New Construction Old Fashioned Ed&cation and New Needs 13 Location or K-8 Schools Map: Keeping a Go )d Staff DeFacto School Segregation in Buffalo III 231 Ethnic Composition of Buffalo Public Map: 30 Schools IV The Plan: A design for a Middle School Complex for the City of Buffalo 37 Structure of the Middle School Complex Program Design Implementing the Program Course Offerings .The Plan: V New Middle School Complexes for Buffalo 57 . Size and Character of the Complexes Sites Proposed and Feeder Patterns Middle School Complexes and The Plan: Map: 66 Their Feeder Pattern Effect of the Plan on Existing Middle and Junior High Schools Effect of the Plan on the High Schools Effect of the Plan on Elementary Schools CC TENTS (Continued) CHAPTER PAGE Fillmore Middle School Complex: An Architectural VI Study 88 Educational Siecifications Costs and Transportation Public Transportation Serving Fillmore Map: Middle School Complex The Design 94 The Complex as a Whole Detail Drawings VII Priorities, Transportation, and Cost Considerations ,j5 Conclusion VIII 104 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A study of this kind depends to a great extent on the cooperEition of two groups of peoplecommunity residents who have the necessary data at their fingertips and are acquainted with the thinking and desires of the local residents, and researchers experienced in data analysis and planning for future development. .Dr. Robert Lamitie, Director of Project 1990, and-Dr. Joseph Manch, Superintendent of Schools of the City of Buffalo, were available whenever they were needed to discuss the interpretation of data and the evaluation of ideas for planning. Their choices of project coordinators were ex- cellent--Dr. Frank Ambrosie for Project 1990 and Mr. Lloyd Klute for the Office of the Superintendent of Schools. These men did much more than Dr. Ambrosie helped the researchers was originally expected of them. greatly toward an understanding of the city, and Mr. Klute enhanced their knowledge of the school system, its strengths as well as its weaknesses. Dr. Frank Dressler, and Mr. Joseph Jones, Associate Superintendents, Mr. Donald S. Laing, Director of School Integration, and Mr. Jack L. Migliore of the Superint4ndent's staff as well as Mr. Frank Mesiah of the 1990 Project staff were very helpful and are deserving of our warm appreciatiOn. The study enlisted the help of Dr. Irving Kamil, Principal of I.S. 131, the Albert Einstein Middle School in the Bronx who devised an His plans were submitted to enriched curriculum for the middle school. the architechtural firm of Berman, Roberts and Scofidio so that they could prepare the building designs for such a school. The cooperation of Dr. Kamil and the architects with this study was indeed indispensable. Mrs. Catherine K. Almquist and Miss Mary Ellen Jenkins contributed most effc,tively as research assistants to the project. Mrs. Kay Clanton, Senior Research Associate of our Center, helped us greatly with her intimate knowledge of Buffalo, originally her home- town. Special thanks must also be expressed to the support staff at our. Center, especially Miss Evelyn Wiener, Administrative Secretary and Miss Marcia Lilly, Secretary and to Mr. Dudley Thomas, Art Director at the Center. While we have to share the credit for whatever was accomplished in this study with all who participated in our work, we must accept sole responsibility for the final version of this report. It is our fervent hope that the report and its suggestions will help the Board of Education of the City of Buffalo to arrive at meaningful answers to the many problems of their school system. - 3 - CHAPTER I A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM Considerations in Planning Middle Schools Old buildings that must be replaced; racial segregation that must be corrected, teacher shortages and turnover, and most fundamental, the urgent need for improvement of educational programs for all groups in the population -- these are the problems that any plan for Buffalo's schools must address. In proposing a middle school program, this study seeks to make substantial contributions to all'four of these basic needs. The middle school years, critical as they are in the child's edu- cation, cannot be isolated from the primary education years or those years that follow. Although the task undertaken was to suggest a pro- gram of middle school construction, this study indicates as well how the new middle school program can change and improve educational op- portunity'in both primary and secondary schools. The basic approach taken in this plan is to improve educational quality by providthg a wealth of courses of study from which the indi- vidual child can draw. Given the freedom to choose, the help 'and gui- dance 'of experienced specialized staff, and a rich variety of resource materials:suited to all kinds of learning styles, the child can develop in his own unique way -- learning about many things, learning how to get answers to his own questions, and discovering his own interests and aptitudes. To achieve such an educational program within the normal limited school budget, enough child:cen must be brought together to make it possible to form many different clesses studying specialized subjects. 4 The scnool, too, must be large enough to be able tc buy resource materials that are usually out of the financial reach of the small Such materials include modern educational tech- neighborhood school. st nology, fine libraries, athletic equipment and facilities, health 7f the school enrollment is large facilities, and community services. enough, the services of specialists on the teaching staff can be fully used. . Size is also critical in achieving racial balance in Buffalo, a city that has a rigid residential segregation pattern more severe than the typical Northern urban center. Bringing together children from several neighborhoods in a single middle school complex overrides such residential segregation. Stability is another factor that calls for larger schools than In our mobile society, people move Buffalo has traditionally built. frequently although many of these moves aA. short distances within a city as old areas become less fashionable and new ones are developed. The small school forces children to transfer frequently as their parents move, disrupting the individual child's education and the schools' pro- The larger school, drawing from a broader feeder area, is more gram. The family may move but still impervious to these residence changes. stay in the same school zone. The new inexperienced teacher Teacher turnover, too, is reduced. finds more help and guidance in the larger school where the experienced spc.2ialized staff' has an pErt of its Cut.les the training of new teachers. Team-teaching makes it possible for the new teacher to work closely with his more experienced colleagues. The profession becomes more Advancement in the larger setting is challenging and more gratifying. ffl