There’s a new Albemarle County School Board candidate pushing for academic achievement. Joann McDermid burst onto the scene Wednesday morning with complaints about student performance in her White Hall District.
“I feel a real sense of urgency about this situation,” she said to the crowd of eight gathered at her campaign launch on the steps of the Albemarle County Office Building. “The objective data underscores widespread problems.”
…
McDermid announced that she would convene a pair of casual community meetings over complimentary coffee next Wednesday. One is slated for 10 a.m. at Piedmont Store in White Hall, and the other is set for 1 p.m. at Grit Coffee on Old Trail Drive in Crozet.
After a dozen years leading Crozet Elementary, Gwedette Crummie is retiring, according to a recent announcement to the school community.
Crummie, the division’s longest-tenured principal, will step down this summer before the school welcomes 219 students from Brownsville Elementary following a redistricting approved earlier this year.
The $20.4 million, 28,000-square-foot expansion of Crozet will open this school year. (Jim’s note: if you’re buying a house in Crozet, make sure you know your school district; the MLS is driven by humans, and sometimes we make mistakes)
Crummie, who has worked in education for 36 years, wrote in her message to families that the decision to retire was difficult.
“However, the time is right for a new principal to join this remarkable school community with its beautiful new addition welcoming all students and families,” she wrote, adding that she’ll be starting a new career as a coach for young principals.
If you don’t have kids, please get involved, as school quality and perceived school qualityaffects property values. If you do have kids, get aware and involved. Even if your kids are little now, they’re going to grow up. I’m happy to talk our schools’ perceived quality about property values offline.
(read the whole thing, and the bolding below is mine)
The Albemarle County school division will start figuring out this week how to move hundreds of students from Brownsville to Crozet Elementary.
A 10-person community advisory committee will lead the first phase of that redistricting effort, which will include two public meetings in November. The school division is aiming for the School Board to make a final decision about the two schools’ boundaries in January, so it can start working with the affected families.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearby Brownsville Elementary had nearly 900 students while the building’s capacity was 764. At Crozet, enrollment was up to 360 students, 30 more than the building’s capacity.
…
The committee will hold its first virtual work session Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Additional work sessions are scheduled for Oct. 12, Oct. 26 and Nov. 16, all starting at 6 p.m. Meetings can be viewed at streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/publicmeeting.html.
Virtual public meetings to hear community input will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 and Nov. 9.
As announced by Dr. Keiser in an email a few minutes ago, I am thrilled and privileged to be working with all of you as your new principal beginning tomorrow.
Joining—or in my case, rejoining—a school community is a time for reflection and goal setting. Thinking about this opportunity brought up memories of two Western principals who were powerful role models to me as a young student and an educator. Charlie Armstrong, Western’s first principal, was a dynamic and inspirational leader who worked with our community to build a shared vision of our new school as a place where students and teachers want to be and are proud of all we accomplish together. Anne Coughlin, the principal when I returned to Western to teach, brought a different style of leadership to our school with reflective and patient thoughtfulness and an innate ability to make everyone feel that they mattered and that their perspectives and input contributed to our shared vision.
Both fostered a school culture that supported my success as a student and a teacher and, later, allowed me as an administrator to continue to harness the power of relationships and partnerships with students, faculty and families. As an assistant principal here, relationships were at the heart of the work we did together to support all students. This will continue to be true.
Our commitment to all students is essential. Some of my most important work over the past three years has been with the Department of Instruction and the Office of Community Engagement and Empowerment, implementing our anti-racism policy and the expansion of our culturally responsive teaching program. This work will create more pathways for building on Western’s tradition of excellence as we push ourselves to meet each student’s needs and ensure their success.
This is a formative time for our high school as we recover from the pandemic, think expansively about how we will reimage and expand innovative learning experiences, and engage productively with our community, drawing upon the ideas and expertise of every member of our team. The years ahead will be an exciting time, and I look forward to working with and supporting you as, together, we realize our potential as a school community.
This process of working together will begin this summer when I will schedule opportunities to reconnect and to get to know all of you even better as we prepare for the new year. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to email me any time at [email protected] to share your thoughts and suggestions.
It has been my honor to be a member of our community and school for several decades. Throughout the years, I have appreciated the contributions of our students, faculty, families, and greater community in building that tradition of excellence. I continue to be impressed by the high expectations you each set and I am confident that, with your continued engagement, the years ahead will be an extraordinary time in our school community’s legacy.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Sublette
And the email from Albemarle County’s Assistant Superintendent
I wanted to provide you with a brief update regarding the Crozet ES project. Again, please forward to anyone else that you think might be interested. If there are any groups/individuals that are not receiving these updates, please let me know and I will add them to my distribution list.
Things have been moving fast! At the time of my last email update, we were still in the bidding phase. Since then, we have received favorable bids, and have contracted with the low bidder – Nielsen Builders, Inc. out of Harrisonburg, VA.
My previous communication indicated that we anticipated construction starting in mid-May. However, Nielsen Builders offered the County an additional cost savings credit if we were able to expedite the contracting process to get construction started sooner. We are happy to say that we were able to achieve this goal, which is of great benefit to you all as County taxpayers!
Thus, we wanted you to be aware, that construction will be starting on some areas of the project next Wednesday, April 28.
As can be expected from ongoing construction activities, some noise and dust should be expected throughout construction, but the project team will be taking every effort to minimize these where possible. The Contractor will also be bound by the County’s noise ordinances and all other County/state ordinances and building codes. Here’s what you can expect through the first summer of work:
The first week of work will primarily consist of putting up safety fencing, E&S controls, and mobilization/preparation efforts.
Beginning the week of May 3, the drilling of the additional geothermal wells will commence. We have an additional 53 wells to drill this spring/summer to accommodate the geothermal HVAC system that I have mentioned in previous correspondence.
Other early efforts will include installing temporary emergency egress stairs for building occupants, associated site work for a new kitchen addition on the north side of the school, and associated site work for the new classroom addition on the south side of the school. Footers and foundations on the two additions are expected to commence sometime in June.
Once school lets out in mid-June, work on the interior office renovations and the construction of a new, expanded playground will commence.
By the end of the summer, the general layout of what will become the new bus loop on the north side of the school should be complete.
Additionally, because the County also owns the property where the Field School is located, we have allowed the Contractor to utilize a small portion of that site for some limited contractor parking and storage of construction materials so please do not be alarmed if you see some construction-related activity there as well.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be working from the site at least 3 days a week, and I can always be reached by cell phone. Thanks and I hope you all have a great weekend!
Matt Wertman
Senior Project Manager – Facilities Planning & Construction
I hope that this email finds you well and that you and your families are enjoying the nice, warm weather that we’ve had this week! It has been awhile since I last provided you all with an update on the Crozet ES project, and I wanted to take this opportunity to do so, as well as make you aware of some work that will be happening early next week. I apologize in advance for the lengthy email, but I hope you find it helpful.
Also, please feel free to forward this to anyone else in the community that may be interested. I sent to everyone in the nearby area that I have an email for, but there are many that I do not. If there are individuals or neighbors that did not get my original email and would like to be included in future correspondence, please have them reach out to me and I will add them to the distribution list!
General Project Update
Since my last update the design team was able to complete the full design of the project, and has been finalizing the site review process. Some of you may have received notifications from the Community Development Department during that process. The team expects to receive approval on the site plan in the next few weeks, as many of the various permitting agencies have already signed off on the plans, including VDOT’s approval of the proposed entrances to the site.
Currently, the project is out for bidding, with contractors’ bids due on Thursday, March 18. We currently anticipate construction starting full-time in May. From a big-picture perspective, you can expect to see work in the following areas at the approximate times (Note: These are still subject to change prior to contracting with the low bidder):
2021 Summer – Work will be focused on the east side of the parcel (behind the existing building), including construction of the new bus loop and expanded playground area. Construction will likely start on the new classroom addition to the south. Interior renovations to the school admin and library area.
2021-22 School Year – Work will continue on the new classroom addition to the south and the new kitchen addition to the north. Some targeted interior renovations when the school schedule allows. No changes to car/bus traffic circulation for this school year.
2022 Summer – Work will be focused on the west side of the parcel, including construction of the new front parking lot. Completion of the new classroom and kitchen additions. Interior HVAC renovations to existing classrooms and converting the existing kitchen to an expanded dining area.
To provide you with a brief update on the plans relative to the items that many of you have asked about in the past:
The project team removed the new classroom addition from the stream buffer in its entirety, but was unable to avoid eliminating the need for temporary access into the 50’ landward side of the buffer during construction. As we had previously indicated, the County stream buffer ordinance does authorize temporary access for construction purposes. In its final form, the project is making stormwater management enhancements that will improve the water quality compared to the site’s existing conditions.
I know that many of you asked about exterior lighting:
In the short term, some of you may have noticed that we were able to adjust the one exterior light outside the existing gym door that you had mentioned was a problem. That light has been adjusted to point down as far as the light fixture allows.
All spaces in the new addition will have motion sensors so that lights are turned off when they do not detect motion.
We are required by the building code to have egress lighting at all exits. There are 2 exits on the new addition – one on the western end of the addition and one on the eastern end.
The project has complied with the County’s lighting ordinances and review of those lighting requirements was part of the site plan review process.
There will be an expanded playground behind the school at the conclusion of the first summer. Hopefully your children and grandchildren will enjoy this expanded feature!
I think those were the major issues that we had heard about previously, but if I missed something specific that you’d like an update on, please do not hesitate to reach out. Moving forward, I will do my best to provide you with quarterly updates of our progress through the construction phase, and I will certainly communicate any special concerns ahead of time.
Geothermal Test Well Drilling Next Week
I wanted to also notify you all about some work that we will be doing next week. This project will be installing a new geothermal ground HVAC system to heat and cool the new additions, as well as large portions of the existing building. It will be the first geothermal HVAC system in a County facility!
If you are unfamiliar with these systems, there are lots of resources on the internet that explain the technology. However, the short version is that they utilize the earth’s temperature for heat exchanges (i.e. heating and cooling) since the earth’s inner temperature is always constant. A heat pump cycles water through long loops of underground pipes that then transfer heat from ambient air in the building to the ground and vice versa. Here is a great resource from the EPA’s website should you wish to learn more about these systems: https://www.epa.gov/rhc/geothermal-heating-and-cooling-technologies#Ground-Source-Heat-Pumps
The expected payback time for the system at Crozet ES is approximately 7-8 years. This represents a conservative estimate based on the data available to us at this time. Once the system is up and running, it is possible that we will see the payback period on this system reduced. You can see the long-term projected savings of this system compared to other more traditional systems that the design team considered here (the geothermal system is represented by the green line):
The County is excited about this system, as it is a big step forward in achieving the County’s Climate Action Plan. Let me know if you have any other questions about the system!
In order to better inform the contractors bidding on the project and to also adjust the design details if needed, we will be drilling two test wells next week starting on Monday and concluding on Wednesday. The wells will be 550’ deep. These wells are no different from a water well – the water from them is simply used for a purpose other than drinking water. As I am sure you are aware, drilling wells can sometimes be a noisy operation so we will stick to the following schedule for next week:
Tuesday: 7:30 AM – Nightfall (approximately 6-6:30)
Wednesday: 8:00 AM – Finish
As always should you have any questions about the work taking place next week or any of the items above, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I hope you all have a great weekend!
Matt Wertman
Senior Project Manager – Facilities Planning & Construction
There was a big land use meeting the other day. Here’s the blog post with the agenda, and below are the attachments sent out after the meeting. These land use decisions affect everything. Housing, schools, roads, trails, jobs, parks, and virtually everything else.
Note that the County are having Office Hours on 2 October. Read on for details.
These quick thoughts are part of an email that I sent to someone asking for my thoughts after the meeting. I wasn’t going to write a story until I was asked, so here it is.
We need creative density, commensurate with infrastructure improvements
There are a lot of people who say they want affordable housing, but want it somewhere else
Seems like a lot of Crozetians don’t like the current growth patterns, and want to shut down development. At least the ones speaking out.
Some of the stuff that is being built around Crozet is certainly contributing to the changes in Crozet
We need affordable housing here. Not “over there.”
I agree with the commenters that this feels somewhat rushed, but we still need to do something soon
We need a developer to come and propose/put up something like this that is functional and creative.
Ceasing development is not a good or viable solution (I’m working on a follow up post on this, and would welcome citations in favor or against this argument)
Zoom meetings are fantastic in that they open the meetings in a way that make them much easier to access, jump in and out, and learn.
(bolding is mine; this is part of the email from the County Staff as a followup
Thank you for attending yesterday afternoon’s Crozet Community Advisory Committee meeting. This was by far the highest-Zoom meeting we have had since we were forced to move engagement to a virtual format, with the turnout surpassing some of our public input opportunities that were open for over three weeks at a time. If you were unable to attend, please take some time to provide input through our questionnaire at https://publicinput.com/O2561.
I’ve had a number of requests for the video from the meeting as well as the Q&A list, chat, and presentation and wanted to provide those here. The meeting video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/gCUKw8b4Mb0.
The Q&A list, chat log, and presentation slides are attached. We also wanted to create some additional opportunities for community members to chat directly with staff to provide feedback and ask questions about the Master Plan. Next Friday, October 2 from 11AM-1PM we will be hosting (virtual) office hours. Please consider joining us to learn more about the draft future land use plan, ask questions, and share your feedback! You do not have to attend for the entire time and can join whenever is convenient for you. You can pre-register/access the meeting here:
Although construction funding is not certain for a long-awaited expansion of Crozet Elementary, the school division is moving forward on designing the $20.4 million project.
Ken Thacker, with VMDO Architects, walked the Albemarle County School Board through preliminary schematic designs Thursday during the board’s monthly work session. The plans include a three-story addition, new bus loop, improved play areas and an expanded gym and cafeteria.
The 28,000-square-foot Crozet expansion was identified as the division’s top capacity-related construction project by an advisory committee last year in order to ease overcrowding in the western feeder pattern. Nearby Brownsville Elementary has nearly 900 students while the building’s capacity is 764. At Crozet, enrollment is up to 360 students, 30 more than the building’s capacity.
Dear Members of our Western Albemarle High School Staff and Community:
Earlier this evening, our School Board approved the appointment of Jason Lee as your new principal, effective July 1. Mr. Lee succeeds Dr. Patrick McLaughlin, who will be returning to his role as the division’s Chief of Strategic Planning, also on July 1.
