Barnes Beautification Project, Day 4

The woodchips arrive!

Barnes Beautification Project, Day 3

Barnes Beautification Project, Day 2

On day 2 of the Beautification project, gardening took center stage. Focusing on the "reuse" part of "reduce, reuse, recycle," we made a small terraced garden in one corner of the grounds using bricks and rocks from the pile of debris from Burlington Telecom putting in a transfer station:


The mural project continues to get filled in as well:


And, of course, the bobcat continues its work getting ready for the delivery of woodchips tomorrow:

Barnes Beautification Project, Day 1

In the spring of 2006, the kids at Barnes presented the PTO with a petition asking us to replace the pea stone under the play equipment in the front playground with something less abrasive. This summer, with support from Lowe's, CEDO and Alderson Environmental Contractor, we have taken this on as part of our summer beautification project, using all-volunteer labor. In addition to re-surfacing the front playground, we are increasing our garden space and muralizing the back entrance.

Thanks to the generous loan of a bobcat from Alderson Environmental Contractor, removing the pea stone from the playground won't be quite as labor-intensive as it would be by hand:


Our resident parent-artists Rebecca Hartwick and Maria Chomentowski are designing and organizing the painting of murals on the columns and ceiling of the back entrance to the school, with a sustainability theme:



(those are windmills, painted by one of the non-artist parent volunteers)

Of course, it wasn't all work, and there's nothing like working while surrounded by playing children:

First year of Barnes World Summer Academy concludes

On Wednesday, August 1st, the Barnes World Summer Academy, a joint project of the Sara Holbrook Community Center and Burlington Parks and Recreation, held its closing ceremony. The Academy, held at Barnes, provided low-cost summer childcare and education for kids from the Old North End and as far away as Colchester and Winooski. It emphasized "place-based learning," and different groups of kids took on projects such as identifying strengths and challenges in their neighborhood, researching and making proposals for community improvement.



The assembled crowd of kids, parents, and community leaders including Mayor Bob Kiss and representatives from Parks and Rec and CCTA heard how kids had spent the summer surveying each other, their families and the general public to identify areas in which Burlington could better serve their neighborhoods. Their proposals include:

* Reduce car traffic in the neighborhood;
* A community pool for Burlington, so Burlington families wouldn't have to travel to Winooski to swim in the summer;
* A free CCTA shuttle to North Beach, to reduce greenhouse emissions and allow families without cars to access this public beach; and
* Recycling bins at North Beach, to help reduce both littering and landfill.

Barnes on Channel 17!

Lawrence Barnes parents will be hosting "Live @ 5:25" this Friday, June 8th, on Burlington's Channel 17: Town Meeting Television, talking about the school district's proposals for "Socio-Economic Integration" (SEI), the Unity Plan put forward by the Barnes community, and the work of the Sustainable Schools Project and the PTO at Lawrence Barnes elementary.

Unity Plan for Burlington Schools

This Unity Plan was developed by members of the Barnes community, as a proposal for how the Burlington school district can move forward on the issue of elementary schools.

The goals of the Unity Plan are:

* A long-term economically sustainable school district
* A move toward greater socio-economic integration in the Burlington elementary schools without disrupting existing school communities and pitting neighborhood against neighborhood.
* Neighborhood elementary schools that allow families to walk to school and maintain community.

We propose the following:

1. The three existing downtown elementary schools remain as K-5 elementary schools. Two become Magnet Schools:

* Barnes becomes a Sustainable School Magnet
* Wheeler becomes an Arts and Drama Magnet

2. Common registration for new families for the downtown elementary schools. All current families would be allowed to attend their current school. New families would register for the downtown elementary schools and assignments would be based on:

* proximity
* preference
* socio-economic integration

3. In order to keep the district financially sustainable, sell the Ira Allen building. The administration that is currently located there could move to Edmunds. The EEE program that is currently there could move to Wheeler.

4. Invest in the district's current infrastructure to make much needed improvements and make the buildings energy efficient. On-Top and Horizons programs remain at Taft where long overdue improvements will result in significant long term energy savings. At Barnes and Wheeler improvements are needed to make the schools more attractive, better suited to carrying out their roles as Magnets and to achieve long-term savings from energy efficiency. The funding for these improvements could come from:

a. Grants specifically designed for Magnet Schools
b. Grants specifically designed for districts to gain energy efficiency
c. The proceeds from the sale of the Ira Allen building.