This Week

1/11/2007

Sue Hagan

In deciding not to build a media center/library in the new Arts Impact Middle School, Columbus Public Schools officials gave AIMS students what their program calls for — lots of space for dancing, art, music and performance.

“We used the square-foot allocation the OSFC (Ohio School Facilities Commission) gave us, but we were able to be more creative,” said Carole Olshavsky, CPS senior executive for capital improvement.

She said a new, campus-wide library will be included in one of the buildings being renovated on the Fort Hayes campus, where the new AIMS is located.

The library will be used by the AIMS students as well as those from the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School and the Fort Hayes Career Center.

“We had talked about how the schools create a campus, and it makes sense for all of them to use one media center,” said Olshavsky. “Without a library, we could include more spaces for AIMS programs.”

The new building opened on the Fort Hayes campus Jan. 3, the first day of classes for Columbus students after winter break.

Until then, AIMS was located in the old Everett Middle School building in Victorian Village. Moving the school does two things: it puts the AIMS arts program next door to a high school with the same focus, and it moves students into a modern building that fills programmatic needs.

In 2002, when the CPS long-range facilities plan was written, the Everett building, constructed in 1898, was rated “poor” as to its physical and educational adequacy.

“This building is obviously newer and much brighter,” said AIMS Principal William Doermann.

He said the building’s design, which was conceived with input from parents and staff members, serves the program well.

“We have arts rooms all over the building, which allows art to be integrated into the (overall) curriculum,” he said.

The new building also has extra open spaces, such as the central cafeteria which doubles as a gathering place.

Last week, students congregated there to hear about a new after school program being introduced by the Davis Discovery Center, which will let students create a hip hop theater performance on a timely topic they will help choose.

Doermann said he promised such a program to parents and students after the district shorted the school day by one period.

Olshavsky said that, besides having to design the building around the AIMS curriculum, the archi- tects also had to abide by guidelines from the city’s historic preservation office.

That meant that the west and south facades had to reflect the architecture of the historic Fort Hayes buildings, which AIMS faces.

“The front picks up some brick and the architects picked up elements of the Shot Tower (in the center of the campus),” said Olshavsky. Windows and doors also reflect the scale of those in the historic buildings. On the other hand, the north and east sides of the school were designed to blend in with building constructed in 1960s and 1970s, she said.

AIMS is one of 35 Columbus schools being renovated or rebuilt, using funding from a 2002 bond issue and matching money from the state.

Fairmoor and Parsons elementary schools opened at the start of the school year, Sullivant Elementary and AIMS opened over winter break and Weinland Park is opening next week.

Still to be completed later in 2007 are East Columbus, East Linden, Lincoln Park, Ohio Avenue, Shady Lane, Watkins and West Mound elementary schools.