03/11/08 - "I really like this new place," said Alexa Brunetti, 5, "We met new kids today and there is more computers."

Let's all take a big sip of School Board Kool-aid and forget all about those incompetent and deceitful school administrators that knowingly left little children in a contaminated classroom for over one year.

Ham Ave. students return to school

By Meredith Blake
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

The story of a friendship between Owen, a baby Hippo displaced from his home after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and Mzee, a 130-year-old tortoise in Africa, was a fitting tale to share with kindergarten students from Hamilton Avenue School yesterday.

It was their first day at Glenville School after modular classrooms in use while Hamilton Avenue School is under renovation were closed for the rest of the year because of mold.

Elaine Gencarelli, media specialist from Hamilton Avenue School, decided to the read the book, "Owen and Mzee: A True Story of Remarkable Friendship," to the kindergartners during their first period for its theme of displacement and friendship...

... Damaris Rau, Hamilton Avenue School principal, and Deborah Cline, Hamilton Avenue School assistant principal, spent yesterday visiting each school to which their students were dispersed....

Quote Of The Day:

"I think its going to be a fantastic experience for the students, learning about community support and forging new relationships," Glenville School Principal Marc D'Amico, said while wereing rose colored glasses.

"I don't see any negatives in this at all,"as Principal D'Amico took another big sip of Superintendent Betty Sternberg's red colored Kool-aid.

I guess increased taxes for single family homeowners is not a negative....

03/11/08 - Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler: Taxpayers Had Better Get Ready To Pay For School Board Mismanagement

I guess that screwed up Connecticut Mastery Tests is not a negitive.....

03/10/08 - Hamilton Avenue School Students Will Excell On The CMT's If The Biology Questions Are About How Mold Effects Children In A Small Classroom.

I guess that Greenwich School Administrators hiding mold from Hamilton Avenue Students for over one year as that children were suffered from headaches, prolonged sinus infections in the temporary modular classrooms is not a negitive....

03/09/08 - Town Employees: Sternberg's Crew Knew - Mold Covered Tiles Replaced Over One Year Ago.

Principal Marc D' Amico Keeps Telling The Glenville Parents Not To Worry About The School Administrators That Were Knowingly Going To Put Their Little Children In Contaminated Modular Classrooms.

But maybe Glenville parents should start listening to the maintenance staff member's who refuse to take a sip from Superintendent Sternberg's kool-aid.

03/05/08 - The Unionized (Teamstewrs) School District Custodial Staff Are Suggesting That There Might Be A School District Coverup At Ham Ave School

03/03/08 - Parents Bring Protest To The "Oldie Moldie" School Administrators

Greenwich Roundup Photo

Headline:

Parents protest school construction delays

Reporter:

Ken Borsuk

Source:

Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT

Quote:

“The Board of Education and town have failed us as a community,” PTA member Mina Bibeault told the Greenwich Post outside of the Havemeyer Building Monday morning. “They’ve failed us in so many ways. We want answers. Our kids mean something to us. We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, literally.”

Story:

With the modular classrooms closed for at least a week and the prospect of their children being dispersed to other schools, Hamilton Avenue School parents took to the streets in protest Monday morning.

More than 30 parents and children picked up signs and picketed outside the Board of Education offices in response to the news that the modular classrooms the students have been in since spring 2005 would be closed for at least this week due to mold concerns from a leaky roof. Hamilton Avenue parents and children walked with messages such as “Deja Vu, Shame on You,” “No More Lies,” “Rich Town, Poor School” and “This is Greenwich?”

An emergency school board meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. in the Greenwich High School auditorium to discuss plans for the school. Nothing has been announced other than the school closure.

Ms. Sternberg and Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler could not be reached for comment before the meeting. The relocation plan is expected to be revealed tonight.

Parents have raised the point that the original building was deemed educationally unsound because of mold problems.

Construction problems have plagued the project since its inception and completion, which was originally expected in time to open the school last September, is now not expected until June, leaving parents visibly frustrated. Though the protest was not sanctioned by the school’s PTA, it was organized by PTA member Mina Bibeault. She said the effort was organized starting Sunday morning and a group of six parents made the signs....

....
“This could have all been avoided,” Ms. Bibeault said. “I don’t think we’re being told the truth and we really want the truth and the answers about what’s really happened. We have been in serious violation of fire codes since the beginning of the school year and that has not been addressed... This is being covered up by the mold issue. The mold issue definitely could have been addressed. We’ve had leaky roofs for almost a year now. We were putting band-aids on it because we thought we would be going to the new building. Shame on the Board of Education. Shame for not taking us more seriously and not taking the risk to our children more seriously.”
Ms. DiBella said she felt the board was not listening to the community. She said the community had received no information other than the school was closed and the meeting will be held tonight.

“They’re going to do what they’re going to do and to hell with what everybody else feels,” Ms. DiBella said. “There’s been no consensus. There’s been no discussion. There’s been no agreement. They haven’t even attempted to get us on board with whatever plans they have.”

A special meeting was held Sunday morning to discuss the issue. The meeting was called by Ms. Sternberg and was neither an official board meeting (because of an absence of enough board members to make a quorum) nor an official PTA meeting though Hamilton Avenue Principal Damaris Rau and Glenville Principal Marc D’Amico and PTA members from both schools attended. Press was not permitted to attend.

Greenwich police officers kept a watch on the protest to make sure pedestrian traffic wasn’t impacted. Officers were also deployed to the modulars to make sure all parents dropping off children knew the school was closed. Public Information Officer Lt. Daniel Allen said there were no incidents.

More:

Mold closes CT school for week
7Online.com, NY

(WABC)

-- A school in Connecticut was shut down because of mold. The Hamilton Avenue School will be closed all week while school officials try ...

School officials scramble to put together relocation plan

Board of Education officials said they are furiously working on a relocation plan for Hamilton Avenue School, with the goal of presenting an overview at tonight's public meeting and the details by Wednesday and Thursday. "We've got people working around the clock," district spokeswoman Kim Eves said. "There are so many details to work out in order to be able to logistically pull that off."

What next for Ham Ave.? Board of Ed tries to keep homerooms, grades together

After closing Hamilton Avenue School for the upcoming week because of mold discovered in the walls of temporary classrooms, education officials will reveal a plan tonight to discuss their plans to relocate students to other schools for the remainder of the school year.