Frequently Asked Questions: ISP Early Childhood Campus

LOCATION & THE PHYSICAL SPACE

Where is the new campus located?
In the John’s Landing area – 5210 SW Corbett Ave, off Macadam Avenue between SW Mitchell and SW Boundary. 

What will be in the new campus?  
The new campus will house our entire Early Childhood Program for PreK (3-year-olds) and LowK (4-year-olds).  The new campus has one building with over 13,000 square feet of space. There are nine classrooms, a shared area for the library, outdoor play space, and a kitchen area for the messiest projects. The building includes offices and/or workspace for Head of Early Childhood Maria Abad, a full-time receptionist, and other administrative staff members.

What is the situation for parking and traffic access?
The campus includes a significant parking lot and on-street parking on 3 sides. Access is easy from Macadam Avenue and from I-5 (Corbett Street exit).

What was in the building before?
Half of the building recently housed a daycare (their lease had expired), and the other half is empty.

Is the rest of ISP moving?
No. The main campus will continue to be at our current location with the Hilltop Building, Stearns Hall and the two modular buildings. The Arthur Street building has been converted to house administrative offices.

Is the new Early Childhood campus just a temporary location? For how long will the school use it?
The school signed a multi-year lease for the new EC campus. The total length of time we use it will depend on the progress we make implementing the Campus Master Plan.

What will the play area be like?
The play area will have the modular, creative SnugPlay equipment that is specially designed for preschoolers (the same as what has been at the Arthur Street campus).

Are there real walls between the classrooms or just partitions?
There are real walls between the classrooms. There may be partitions between offices.

When can we see the new campus?
Floor plans are currently available for parents at /campus-maps/.  Two open houses for enrolled families are scheduled: 1) August 13 at 8:00am -10:00am and 2) August 19 at 4:00-6:00pm. We will also have classroom visits on the day before school starts.

Will there be any community meeting space or place for parents to gather?
The current plans include a room that can be used for small staff and parent meetings. In addition, the neighborhood has coffee shops and restaurants where parents can hang out. The Arthur Street building also has space for staff and parent meetings.

What is happening to the Arthur Street building?
The Arthur Street building is now being used for administrative offices and meeting space.

 

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Has the building been checked for earthquake stability, fire safety, etc.?
The entire facility has been updated to meet the city’s strict e-occupancy standards for school buildings. This includes upgrades for seismic stability, fire safety and accessibility. The Fire Marshal and Department of buildings did inspections and have signed off on the space.

Is there an evacuation route in place? What are the school’s emergency preparedness plans? Where will students go if the building needs to be evacuated?
The building is in an area with many options for emergency needs. We will be working out the details over the summer and will post them at intlschool.org/closures.

 What security measures will be in place?
Policies and procedures to keep children safe will be similar to those at the main campus. We will be working out everything specific to the new campus within the next few weeks and prior to school starting.

What does the school need to do to make the building ISP-ready?
Construction is complete and we are moving in furniture, teacher equipment, technology, and everything else needed. Then teachers will have some time to set up their classrooms and prepare for students. We are also working on many policies and procedures for the new campus and to ensure synergy and consistency across the entire school (pick-up and drop-off, school hours, location and management of shared resources, emergency procedures, specialist schedules, etc).

 

LOGISTICS

What will happen if I have kids at both campuses? What will the school hours be?
Approximately 20 to 25 families will have children at both campuses (depending on new enrollment). We have developed our policies and procedures for school start and end times, early care and waiting room, and drop-off and pick-up specifically with those families in mind.

EC CAMPUS HOURS
7:30-8:00 early care
8:00-8:15 classroom drop off
8:15-3:00 school day (includes 12:00 half day)
3:00-3:15 classroom pickup
3:15-3:45 extended care

MAIN CAMPUS HOURS
7:30-7:45 early care
7:45-8:00 classroom drop off
8:00-3:10 school day
3:10-3:30  pickup based upon assigned location (will be communicated separately)
3:30-3:45 extended care

Will there be a shuttle between campuses?
At this time it does not look like the school will be able to provide a shuttle.  The trip between campuses can be done by car in 10 minutes, or on one public bus in 15 minutes.

Will there be a change to school start and end times?
The 2014-15 school hours are as follows:

EC CAMPUS HOURS
7:30-8:00 early care
8:00-8:15 classroom drop off
8:15-3:00 school day (includes 12:00 half day)
3:00-3:15 classroom pickup
3:15-3:45 extended care

MAIN CAMPUS HOURS
7:30-7:45 early care
7:45-8:00 classroom drop off
8:00-3:10 school day
3:10-3:30  pickup based upon assigned location (will be communicated separately)
3:30-3:45 extended care

Will there be a change to after school classes?
Classes targeted for PreK and LowK children will be offered at the Early Childhood Campus.  Classes for children in kinder through 5th grade will be offered at the main campus. SquareGator will offer programs in both locations.

How will drop-off and pick-up work at the new campus?
At the EC campus, parents will be asked to park and walk their child into class or into the early care waiting room. There is plenty of parking at the new campus and in its surrounding neighborhood. 

Is there a Tri-met bus that goes between the campuses? How long does it take?
Tri-met bus route 35 goes directly between the main campus and the new Early Childhood campus. The bus ride is less than 10 minutes plus just a block or two walk at each end.

Will teachers at the Early Childhood campus still be involved in meetings and activities with the older grade teachers?
Yes.

Will students at the Early Childhood campus interact with older ISP students?
Since the campuses are not within walking distance, there will not be as much contact between children at the two locations as there is today between Arthur Street and Sherman. However there will certainly be opportunities for both parent and student interaction. The Tri-met bus ride between campuses is short and convenient.  In addition, we are planning a series of off-campus weekend and “no school day” events to help ISP families connect with one another.

 

“WHY” QUESTIONS

Why is this building needed?
Having this campus will allow us to designate individual classrooms for each PreK and LowK track, and house the preschool age group all together in one building.  It will also allow us to have a break room for staff (on both campuses), something that we have sorely missed for the past two years. We anticipate that the Kindergarten – 5th grade program will use all available classroom space on the main campus.

Why the John’s Landing location and this particular building?
This facility is easy to access from ISP, has the right amount of space, and will meet the rigorous “e-occupancy” standards required for schools by the City of Portland.

Why move preschoolers over there instead of older grades? Why not move kindergarten over there also?
PreK and LowK make a strong cohesive unit that can function well with some independence from the upper grades. Since grades 1-5 share resources and teachers for English, art, PE, music and library, it would be much more difficult to pull two of those grades off to a different location. The new facility does not have room for kindergarten in addition to PreK and LowK. Kindergarten can function well with the upper grades, as it does in many schools.
Why did this get delayed for so long?
We had to work out many details with the building owner to ensure that the building upgrades would be done as needed. This took longer than anyone had anticipated.

Why isn’t the school managing enrollment to grow more carefully, so we don’t overflow our facilities?
The school has enrolled approximately the same number of new students every year since 2007 (when we opened Stearns Hall). We do not envision increasing new student enrollment. Since 2007, the school’s growth has come completely from increased student retention. As our program has matured and improved, significantly more families are choosing to stay at ISP into the upper grades. We have invested time, energy and funds to become an IB school, a Confucius Classroom, and an International Spanish Academy; we have invested in learning technology, developed a four-language Library Media Center, established consistent policies and procedures, and invested in our administrative team to improve communication and service levels. The school forecasted retention growth, but it has exceeded even our most optimistic projections.

Why do this now? Isn’t the school about to kick off construction for a new building? How does this building fit in with the Campus Master Plan (CMP)?
The CMP has been designed from the beginning to be flexible, so that the school can pursue building projects that directly meet its most vital needs.  Last year we focused on the first phase of the CMP:  securing the site for the school’s future.  This involved purchasing the Hilltop Building, the land above Stearns Hall, and safely demolishing two old houses on Caruthers Street.  While we work on the next phase of the CMP to build a new classroom building on the main campus, this new Early Childhood center accommodates our immediate needs for more classroom space.  As we move forward with the CMP, we will determine whether and for how long to continue using this new Early Childhood campus.

 

IMPACTS ON K-5TH GRADE FAMILIES & THE MAIN CAMPUS

Does this new campus impact K-5th grade families or teachers?
Yes. The new campus will result in some changes that impact K-5th grade families, such as:
– Parking and traffic on the main campus should ease up somewhat, since the student population at the main campus will decrease.
– There may be some changes to pick-up and drop-off procedures at the main campus due to staff location changes. We will announce any changes in August.

What will happen to the current LowK classrooms in the Hilltop building?
The two rooms currently used by LowK will be part of our overall classroom allocation process that takes place every summer. As always, classrooms will be allocated based upon class size and the desire to have same-grade classrooms as close to one another as possible.  If enrollment and class configurations result in an extra classroom, the first priority will be to establish a staff break room, something we have not had for two years.

 

SCHOOL COMMUNITY

What will this new campus mean for our PreK and LowK students and their families?
Having a campus dedicated to PreK and LowK gives us the opportunity to create an incredible Early Childhood environment.  Children and families will have two years in an intimate environment before integrating with the older children and their families on a daily basis. The EC campus will enable children and families to form bonds in a smaller space, while community-wide activities will aim to help everyone feel connected to the greater ISP community. For the PreK students and families, the new campus will provide a slightly larger environment that still feels safe and manageable.

How will consistency and communication work for a campus that is not within walking distance?
ISP has a lot of experience with a spread-out campus. Administrative staff and teachers already communicate and collaborate extensively using e-mail, shared Google docs, on-line chat, and regular in-person meetings.

On the academic side, our educational leaders have explicit responsibility for collaborating to ensure continuity and cohesiveness between the different grades for all aspects of school.Our receptionists pride themselves on keeping one another well-informed to provide equal service and support no matter which building you are in. This will continue, with a full-time receptionist stationed at the Early Childhood Campus.All other administrators will have regular contact with both campuses.

Will the children have opportunities to interact with those at the other campus?
Since the campuses are not within walking distance, there will not be as much contact between children at the two locations as there is today between Arthur Street and Sherman. However there will certainly be opportunities for both parent and student interaction. The locations are close, and Tri-met service between campuses is convenient.  In addition, we are planning a series of off-campus weekend and “no school day” events to help ISP families connect with one another.

Will there be extra fees associated with this new campus?
No. We work hard to make sure there are no hidden or additional costs for parents throughout the school year.