Steve Nunez’s Post

This is me choking up at the end of my speech during the groundbreaking for the new Norwalk High School. I got emotional because three seniors Christian Pierre & Kiera Cunniffe, Norwalk High School students and Aaron Charles, from P-TECH spoke before me about how happy they are for the new school and the opportunities their peers will have who will follow them. It would be easy to keep the status quo. We have great teachers, administrators and staff who persevere and demand excellence despite the challenges of a 1971 learning facility. We have awesome students who work hard and succeed despite leaks, cold and hot rooms, unusable courtyards, a library that is so functionally out of date that some of the middle schools are better equipped and a cafeteria that can't keep up with the student population. Let alone the security challenges that I won't go into. There's a pool with air quality problems, locker rooms that are not ADA compliant and bathrooms on all floors with plumbing encased in concrete, making it virtually impossible to repair or update. If we were not here today at this groundbreaking, the City of Norwalk and the State of Connecticut would need to invest $20 million dollars at a minimum to maintain the status quo. That would still leave us with a third-rate auditorium, a gymnasium with mold and termite damage, classrooms without elevator access and a substandard physical plant. The worst part – after tens of millions of dollars, the money invested would be invisible. Barely any of the work would be noticed. That's why it's time for a new school.

College presidents are driving a civic transformation on college campuses, preparing students for active participation in our dynamic, diverse, and often contentious society. See the impact across classrooms, auditoriums, student life, administrative offices, and more in our inaugural progress report: https://buff.ly/3YMEIv0 #CSCollegePresidents

Learn how Walker Consultants is enhancing campuses! 🏫 #WalkerConsultants

I'm especially interested in this post by Horizon Care & Education, describing their therapeutic approach with a focus on learning spaces. Many years ago I was a regular contributor for SEND Magazine. One such article was on the learning environment & optimum learning spaces, taking as research an analysis of the teaching spaces for children with SEND across a number of schools. Audits of learning spaces, for highly vulnerable children, included - dining halls, corridors, changing rooms, outside classrooms, outside the HT's office, libraries, IT rooms... Hardly optimum learning environments. Combine that with the number of hours a typical student with SEND is out of the classroom, and there are a host of added difficulties right there. So, lots of words to say, this article pleases me on many fronts. Well done.

When we got serious about making Hoffmann Brothers University a reality, we had two big questions: Where would it be? Who would run it? Our vision for HBU as a training facility that capable of scaling with our company required a physical place. HBU started as a program housed in our main office, but it needed space to grow. Not long after, we heard that the early childhood learning center next door was moving. The building would be available. We knew that turning a daycare center into a state-of-the-art training facility for the home services industry would post some challenges, but the timing and location were perfect. We purchased the building and have spent the last year renovating it. This photo is an architectural rendering drawn up before the renovation. As for the who part of the equation, we knew that delivering on the promise of HBU would require the guidance of a true expert in education. So before we even had a building, Lorna McClellan joined our team in Nov of 2021. Prior to joining Hoffmann Brothers, Lorna had spent 15 years with Teach for America. She also has a deep understanding of adult educational design (more on that in a future post). Getting clear on where HBU would live and who would lead it were huge steps toward realizing the vision. It's been exciting to see the space coming together. --------------- This is my second post of a series about Hoffmann Brothers University. I'll be posting regular updates about HBU over the coming weeks as we prepare for the grand opening. If you have a specific question you'd like me to address, comment here or message me and I'll do my best to answer.

The progress that has been made over the course of the last few years has been nothing short of incredible and it's thanks to this partnership between O-A-K and Godfrey-Lee. Check out some of these really neat spaces that students get to be in every day. #construction #education #constructionindustry #renovation #highschool #learning

#PennWest - It’s been less than two years since PennWest California, PennWest Edinboro, and PennWest Clarion merged, brought on by years of enrollment downturns and financial concerns. Though they may appear united, the three campuses continue to face their own unique strengths and weaknesses. While #enrollment plunges have occurred at all three #campuses, on-campus housing decline rates varied by #campus. Application-wise, the #California campus has seen a boost in applications, while interest in #Edinboro and #Clarion has diminished. Here's a look at 2023 vs 2019: *PennWest Overall is down 6% - 8,088 vs 8,617 *California is up 22% - 3,800 vs 3,105 *Clarion is down 28% - 1,900 vs 2,640 *Edinboro is down 27% - 2,100 vs 2,872   University officials are hopeful that enrollment downturns will turn around soon. Officials project that enrollment will continue to decrease in 2024, but anticipate growth during the following three years. Read the full article by Maddie Aiken at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - https://bit.ly/48ikGtl #college #colleges #university #universities #collegesanduniversities #education #highereducation #highered #highereducationleadership #enrollmentmanagement #collegeadmissions #enrollmentmarketing #admission #admissions #application #collegeapplications #campus #collegeaccess #student #students #undergraduate #graduate #online #onlineeducation

Another way to reduce cognitive load and increase concentration during core learning times. Managing the flow between focused learning, independent practice and purposeful collaboration requires thoughtful consideration. #scienceoflearning #cognitiveload #focus

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about Cotting School, we hope you will join us TOMORROW at our information session!   Friday, February 9, 2024 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Cotting School Auditorium   Tour our campus, visit our classrooms and talk to Cotting School professionals at one of our upcoming information sessions, where we’ll talk about: ▪ Cotting School - Day program for ages 3-22 ▪ Extended-Year Academic Programs and Summer Enrichment Options ▪ Cotting Consulting – Providing technology solutions for students in their school environments ▪ All of the new initiatives at Cotting School   If you plan to attend and would like to request an interpreter, please let us know. Walk-ins are always welcome and private tours are available by request. If you are unable to visit us in person, you can also take a virtual tour. To RSVP for an info session, set up a private tour or get the link and password to view our virtual tour, please contact Elizabeth Russell at erussell@cotting.org or 781-862-7323 ext. 114.   Click here to learn more: https://buff.ly/30HnCTb   Image description: A grid of four pictures. Image 1: A smiling student feeling a bag of pumpkin pulp and seeds. Image 2: Two smiling students on a community trip to a grocery store. Image 3: A student in a classroom smiling for a picture. Image 4: A smiling student with a jar of liquid and items floating in the liquid.

Elevate Collegiate Charter School in Houston, TX needed additional classrooms to house its enrollment. The obvious answer was to install portable classrooms on the large yard. The less obvious solution was to build a mezzanine in what was formerly attic space by building a structure within a structure. The 2nd challenge was providing accessibility to said mezzanine. The obvious solution was to install an elevator. The less obvious was to build a lift. Here are both creative solutions in place saving time, money, and without compromise. Texas Charter School Development (TCSD)