It’s been eight years since the new C.B. Jennings School was first conceived, three years since the groundbreaking, five months since the principal was named, and about a week since the first lesson, which is “Don’t ask Laurelle Texidor about her summer.”
“It’s been busy,” the Jennings School principal said, giving this reporter a wry look that gives lie to the academic dictum that there are no stupid questions.
It’s three days before New London’s first new elementary school since 1970 is set to open, and there’s still plenty to do.
There’s a constant whirr of drills and workers crawling out from underneath desks. The secretary is making labels for files in the office, and though the new Jennings can accommodate 600 students, it seems there will be more cardboard boxes than there will ever be kids.
Also, Texidor has had to dispel the bizarre rumor that the school is open to students from Waterford.
Despite the odds and ends to be done before the school’s Aug. 28 opening, Texidor is more anxious to talk about the climate of the 74,000-square-foot building—and she doesn’t mean the air conditioning. “In the end it’s a building,” Texidor said. “It all goes back to instruction.”
Texidor said Jennings teachers use the “responsive classroom,” model—an in-vogue theory of instruction that emphasizes social interaction as much as it does rote learning.
“It makes the students more accountable for their education,” she said. Jennings is not only the new school in the district, it’s the new home of the Dual Language Academy.
Jennings students will not only be taught in English, but will receive a minimum of four hours of lessons in Spanish.
Superintendent of Schools Christopher Clouet said other aspects of the $36 million school, such as the signage, would be bilingual.
“It’s analogous to something you might see in Quebec,” he said.
Texidor is excited about the advanced technology in the school, such as computers and Promethean digital boards, interactive “chalkboards” that can access the Internet and play video.
“Young people today are more adept at using technology,” she said.
Children have the ability to broadcast the announcements from a “TV studio,” too.
Clouet noted that the media center is first-rate, and there will be more space to display student work.
“Actually, that’s pretty important,” he said. “That way students feel like they have some ownership of the building.”
Texidor said Jennings School, plans for which were first considered in 2000 by former Superintendent Julian Stafford, plans on reaching out to the surrounding neighborhood.
The school opened its playground three weeks ago in hopes of sparking investment in the building.
Also, members of the New London High School football team stopped by last week to pick up refuse in the playground.
Jevon Clarke, a freshman at NLHS, said he wanted to make sure the school looks good.
“I live on Hempstead Street,” he said. “This is my neighborhood.”
Still, there is the worry that vandals might prey on the pristine walls of the school. The school hopes to thwart any damage by being a visible part of the neighborhood.
Establishing a “family atmosphere” at Jennings School is also one of Texidor’s goals for the year.
The staff and faculty at the school are an amalgam of former Winthrop teachers as well as holdover Jennings staff from the three years in the temporary classrooms on Cedar Grove Avenue.
“We are going to be a new family,” Texidor said.
Teachers began setting up their classrooms last week and are, for the most part, thrilled about the increase in space.
“Look at this,” third-grade English teacher Jamelah Qadir said, pointing to some cabinets. “Storage.”
Qadir is also pleased with the ventilation system in the new Jennings School, noting that she would get allergies due to the mold at the now under-renovation Winthrop School.
“The air quality here is much better,” she noted.
Haydee Ayala, a second-grade Spanish teacher, is looking forward to using the new technology in her classroom, such as the LCD projector.
“It will be a great help,” she said.
Texidor said Jennings strives to be a “community school.”
“We’re at school five days a week,” she said, “but we encourage the community to come by and use the playground; give us a call.”