Oak Knoll Kinderhaus

You'd think, as many times as I've driven, walked, floated and flown past this imaginatively-painted building I'd have taken note of what goes on there.

Some things you don't get to right away. You get to them eventually. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

I have finally taken a picture of the Oak Knoll Kinderhaus, and looked it up online. It's a Montessori school on Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

That doesn't mean I know anything. I didn't go to a Montessori school and don't know much about it. Wikipedia has a description.

Do you have experience with Montessori?

I'm going to put up the holiday lights. I'm not saying when, but I'll get to it.

Willard School Building

This beautiful Gothic and Tudor Revival style building was built in 1891 as a school for children of the granite workers in West Quincy; it housed 1000 students at its peak. Not only is this building unusual for the picturesque style chosen for its architecture, but also it is unique for its tripartite plan; no other school in Quincy was built with this configuration. The Boston firm of Sturgis & Cabot (John H. Sturgis and W. R. Cabot) were the architects for the Willard School and borrowed some design influence from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The building was named in honor of Solomon Willard, the "Father of the Granite Industry" and the architect and builder of Quincy's City Hall, and the Bunker Hill Monument

The Willard School was unfortunately closed in 1982 (due to a budget crisis) and sold for use as office condos.

Classic

I like the classic lines of this granite and brick doorway of Central Middle School. I wonder if the pediment is going to be salvaged and incorporated into the new Central Middle School.

Clearing The Land

Demolition of St. Ann's School is well underway. The property is being cleared to make way for a new middle school. The school has been totally demolished. The former convent can be seen still standing in the background.

School Days

Built in 1894, as Quincy's first high school, Central Middle School now serves 600 children in grades 6-8. Ground will be dug soon for a new $50 million school to replace this one. You can see a design of the new building here.

The new location will be a couple blocks away where St. Ann's School waits for demolition.The new school is projected to open in the fall, 2013.

Now You See It . . .

Soon you won't see St. Ann's School which closed after more than 50 years of operation to make way for a new public middle school.

April 23rd

It's Shakespeare's birthday. I thought I should say "Happy Birthday, Will!" seeing as we--okay, I--so ill-used him on the blog merely a week ago.

It's also St. George's Day in the United Kingdom. From what I understand it's not exactly a big deal on that precious stone set in the silver sea, but it makes a good excuse to go to the pub. Luckily, this year the day of St. George (who wasn't British and never set foot on the sceptred isle) falls on a Saturday, because the day of Britain's patron saint is not a holiday. But Happy St. George's Day to our British friends nonetheless.

I didn't have any pictures of dragons, or knights, or even pubs for that matter. But I'm a sucker for an archway.

The Native Speakers descend on Toruń!

I'm now working at one of the largest English language schools here in Toruń. The team of teachers consists mainly of qualified native speakers. This week the new team have descended on Toruń. They come from as far and wide as South Africa, Sweden...and Newcastle!!! Here they all are relaxing enjoying some Polish beer!

One, Two . . . Buckle My Shoe

Students will begin heading back to school tomorrow. However, not all teachers and school librarians will be heading back. Quincy's teachers gave up their salary increase to help save their colleague's jobs, but many are still without work. This will be a tough Labor Day for them and many others who find themselves unemployed.

Quizzing it Once Again!

The pub quiz a couple of months ago was so successful that last night I organised another one. Once again we had a mixture of British expats mixed with Polish students of English. The questions varied from general knowledge and sport to the more quirky (a fish n chips and what happend on the 29th May round).

Fun was had by all!

Petals For Paul

Friendship Park provides an inviting sitting area outside Lincoln-Hancock Community School. The park is dedicated in memory of Paul Gauthier, an inspiring young student at the school who made everyone smile during his short 11 years on earth.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Back at School

The "Glenn Standish Presentation Roadshow" was back on the road again. This time at a local state school, giving a talk to Polish high school students on New Zealand. If any other schools or organisations are interested in booking an English presentation, please email us!

Eliot School

I think everyone who drives up Lake Avenue to Altadena wants to take a picture of Eliot School. Founded in 1931 and named for Charles W. Eliot (who was a president of Harvard University and responsible for introducing the elective course system), Eliot is a middle school, part of the Pasadena Unified School District and current home to about 700 sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

I toured the school the other day along with a small group of parents and Susan Savitt Schwartz, Director of Operations for Pasadena Education Network. PEN helps parents learn what Pasadena's public schools are really like by connecting them to the facts, to other parents and to the educators themselves.

Our tour was led by the (relatively) new principal of Eliot School, Peter Pannell, himself an Eliot alum. Mr. Pannell (he's the principal--I can't call him Peter) patiently answered questions and gave me the feeling he's an educator who cares. He hasn't forgotten what it's like to be one small kid in a big school.

You know me, I'm interested in the visuals, the architecture. But I found Pannell's earnest talk compelling. Over the coming days, with his help, I'll show you around inside Eliot School and tell you a little more about the fantastic things going on there--like the biggest API score gain of all the PUSD schools in the past year--and that's saying something.

Parent Tours at Eliot School are given the first Tuesday of every month, first thing in the morning. Contact the school at (626-396-5680).

Worker Series

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Last time I met with Quincy's Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Richard Decristofaro, he graciously agreed to let me take his picture for my Quincy "workers series". He has the challenging job of seeing that 8500 students enrolled in Quincy's 18 schools, receive the best education possible on a budget of $82,000,000. Quincy spends about $12,500 on each student per year. We are in the process of building a new high school which is very exciting for our community.

What are the schools like in your community?

July Theme Day: "Empty"

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It's the first of the month and that means "Theme Day" in the City Daily Photo blog community. I chose to illustrate this month's theme (empty) by showing colorful but empty classroom furnishings in a local school. Most of Quincy's schools have emptied out for summer vacation which lasts about 10 weeks!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

In Session

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This is the City Council Chamber, inside City Hall, where formal government sessions happen in Quincy. This is a very recent session of the school committee in which the superintendent is making a budget presentation to the public. Eight people comprise our school committee; one is always the mayor, one is always the superintendent of schools and 6 people are elected by the voting public.

The economic crisis is impacting the schools here. The budget proposed at this meeting would eliminate 5 middle school library and foreign language programs in those schools. Many teachers will be receiving their lay-off notices soon. It would also do away with the school system's printing shop. Apparently President Obama's stimulus package isn't quite enough to keep these educational necessities in place. We'll see. Quincy has 19 schools and a student enrollment of 9,000 students.

What's happening to the schools in your part of the world?

Chalkboards = 0

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This is one of the science classrooms in the new wing of Quincy High School. You will not see any black or green chalkboards here. Each classroom is equipped with a special white erase board, called a Smartboard, which is interfaced with a computer and projector. There is even a science preparation room off this classroom . . . how very exciting for teachers and students to have such a wonderful facility.

Opening Day in Wing A

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The Science, Math, Technology Center opens to students at Quincy High School today. This is a very exciting accomplishment for our city and puts the new high school building project at 36% completion. We will visit the state of the art interior as soon as I get inside to document it. (I can't wait for the dirty snow to go away.)

School Days

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It's "back to school" for students in Quincy today after being on vacation for 10 weeks. Pictured here is construction of the new Quincy High School. The Technical School, partially seen in the background, will be demolished next year as students move into the building you see here. Click here for a view of construction taken last February.

Jacaranda Maxima

Ben and I have been photographing jacarandas. We can't help it.

I found this tree at 300 W. Green Street, just south of the Ralph's parking lot. Well, I didn't find the tree. If you're anywhere in the vicinity of this block of Green you can't miss it. The building behind it is marked "Hall of Administration." It could either be administration for the Ambassador Auditorium or for Marantha High School, both of which are south of (behind) this structure. Ambassador kind of matches it, though.

But back to the tree. Have you downloaded Google Earth? Oh, you should. It's a fun program anyway. I learned my way around Paris with it before I even went there. You can explore the world, or just Pasadena. Check out your house, the mountain trails, or the great aerial view of City Hall. And if you type in the address above (300 W. Green St. Pasadena, CA), you'll see the most prominent feature at that address: the huge, purple jacaranda tree, photographed by satellite.