CAIS

It is my custom during the first week of school to spend time visiting classrooms. This is a wonderful time to see that everything is starting off well. This year my first week took a turn. I attended a workshop on "How to Effectively Manage Multiple Locations." It seemed like a worthwhile topic given the growth we have experienced.

Three years ago, we moved the Business and Development Offices to 44 Page Street in order to free up as much room as possible at 150 Oak Street for student centered activities. This move was accompanied by a concerted effort to build out as many classrooms as possible on the main campus. The following year, we moved the CAIS Institute to 44 Page as well, for the same reason. The inconvenience of having those administrative offices relocate off the main campus was outweighed by the space that was made available for classrooms.

At the same time, we noticed some strains that resulted from the move. The heart of every school is the children and here we were removing a significant number of staff members away from where the real action is. A walk through the offices on 44 Page Street gives evidence that it is not only teachers who have a strong connection to the students. Photographs of students share wall space with wonderful student art as reminders of the very important connection between the school and the offices we had moved away.

We must remember this as we prepare for the PreK move to 52 Waller Street next year.

This new site offers a wonderful opportunity to design a PreK environment that meets our specific needs. PreK teachers will finally be able to work in an environment that they control without the constant complications resulting from having to share space. In addition, the move will open up space on the main campus that is necessary because of our recent growth. But in spite of these advantages, we must remember that the greatest challenge of the move is in ensuring the Waller Street site remains integrated in the CAIS community.

Soon we will be holding meetings to gather input from teachers and parents on what will make 52 Waller a wonderful PreK location. These meetings are important, but they are not enough. While we are designing the physical layout of the PreK, we must keep an eye on the things we cannot see. How do we help the teachers, parents, and students identify with the Oak Street campus? After the move, the PreK must not begin to feel like a “feeder school.” It must continue to be part of CAIS.

That brings us full circle to the workshop I attended recently. High on the list of topics we discussed was how to make people at different sites feel they are still part of the community. Long after our planning is done, it will be a constant challenge we must meet.