So what are some of the creative classroom and landscape ideas that are being developed for the New Hope Chapel site? Professionals from our community share their drawings and thoughts with us:

Kevin Mulcahy, studioTBD CO_LA(B)_o r a t i v e, Lead Architect for LFCSA’s New Hope Chapel site

The floor plans for the classroom interiors were developed following a visit to the Corinne A. Seeds campus with Principal Karin Newlin and her husband, former school superintendent, Bruce. As we toured the classrooms, it became clear that several key spatial components were consistently present in the Seeds classroom model that we had not been able to incorporate into our St. Ambrose classrooms. Given our clean-slate approach to the proposed modular development at the New Hope Chapel site, we took those cues as our guides. The most powerful distinction was the clear separation of the children’s workspace and that of the teacher’s. The classroom was all children… and that clarity seemed to empower the children’s workspace and left us thinking of the subtle message to be drawn, one which inevitably works its way into the children day by day—that their work, the education, is directly proportional to the students’ efforts, confidence, and dedication to their work with the support of their teachers’ independently prepared leadership.

Another essential component incorporated into the plan is an ability to dissolve walls, both between the inside work area and an exterior workspace, as well as between classrooms. Yet another component is a clear commitment to bring as much daylight and natural ventilation into all of the classrooms as possible.

Stephanie and Ben Ragle, office42, Designers for LFCSA’s New Hope Chapel site

We approached the schematic design of the master plan for the New Hope Chapel site by first becoming intimate with the students’ daily routines and then by mapping them at various times of the day (drop-off, recess, lunch, etc.) onto the site. This allowed us to pay particular attention to specific aspects of the day and pay careful attention to the need for security and efficiency during each aspect of the day, as well as various other factors—storage, adjacency, supervision, etc.
Drop-off and pick-up locations are most efficient when combined and would be adjacent to the playground areas that will be utilized as children arrive and wait to leave. At this drop-off area, a shaded ‘buffer zone’ (shown as blue triangular shapes) would act as the area for drop-off, cubbies, and parent/teacher interaction. The specific Dance/Music classrooms are shown to the west (left) of the current sanctuary and the administration building to the east, both providing an edge and façade to the school and assisting with securing the boundary. The Dance/Music classrooms allow for outdoor performances adjacent to the north of the classrooms. The Science/Planting area is placed at the west beyond the fire-lane (running North-South) where the campus becomes more wild and natural, with its own circular seating area as outdoor classroom.

It is important to create a true sense of “campus” by connecting the individual buildings—tying them together to form a singular identity. View corridors act as “hallways” and large and secondary open areas between buildings act as “quads” to give the school a sense of place. The benefit to having an outdoor school is the constant interaction with the organic, fluid landscape.

Site Update - May 1, 2008

Students Will Start The ‘08-’09 School Year At Selma, As Work Continues To Have Our Permanent Home At New Hope Chapel.

Two weeks ago, George Abrams, Marta Alcumbrac, and I took a tour of the Selma Elementary campus in Hollywood with Selma’s new principal who started there last fall. We were very impressed to see many improvements since our visit last spring. We toured the ten classrooms that we will occupy, and found them to be adequate for our classroom needs. I am certain that with the help of Kevin Mulcahy and Rachel Kamerman, our architect and interior designer, we will be able to transform the interior classroom space and make it our own. After Kevin and Rachel visit the site with me later in May, I am certain we will be able to give you a detailed presentation of our temporary site plan.

I want to assure you that our outstanding educational program will continue at Selma and the transition to our temporary location will be smooth. Collectively, it is our outstanding teachers, parents and students that comprise our community. Regardless of the address, our community will continue to flourish wherever we are located. Our program is strong, and is much more than a location. This move is temporary and we are looking forward to moving to our permanent location in the near future.

Stay tuned for updated information as work progresses on the New Hope Chapel site and the Selma Elementary site.

Sincerely,
Karin Newlin

Progress Being Made At New Hope Chapel Site, But Will Not Be Ready For Our September Start Date

LFCSA Parents:
In an effort to keep everyone in the loop, here is up-to-date information about our next year’s location:

New Hope Chapel Update: We have filed an application for our Conditional Use Permit (CUP), which is required to operate as a school at the site. We are on a “fast track” for the permit to be approved, which will hopefully be around late July, and New Hope Chapel has agreed to share the costs with LFCSA. We are currently negotiating a cost-splitting agreement with New Hope Chapel for the soil testing that will be performed at the site, and we are awaiting the government’s input on what requirements they might have on the testing. Although we remain optimistic that this will be our permanent home, it is not going to be up-and-running by September due to time constraints.

I would like to address the anxiety that some of you must be feeling about our school’s likely new temporary site at Selma Elementary. Just as a house is not what defines a home, our temporary location for the Fall is not what defines us as a school. As a couple of our teachers have pointed out to me, a school is not a physical space, but instead a community of people. LFCSA’s students, parents, teachers, and staff make up a talented, diverse, dedicated, innovative, and caring community; our temporary location will not affect our goal to provide our children with a quality education.

There will be more information to report next week about the Selma Elementary location and the Prop. 39 offer from LAUSD.

Thank you for your support as we move through this complicated yet exciting process. Please look for more site updates in the weeks to come.

George Abrams

LFCSA Parents:

Our school’s Prop 39 offer from LAUSD is once again Selma Elementary, located at 6611 Selma Ave. in Hollywood.

For the upcoming 08-09 school year, we will begin school in September on a normal start date.

Our community needs to be prepared to start the school year at the temporary Selma site if the New Hope Chapel site in Los Feliz isn’t ready in time.

Look for new site updates next week.
George Abrams