SOA Opens as Construction Site

A drive around the new Center for Arts and Academics last weekend made two facts obvious: the school buildings were not finished, despite the January 4th opening of the School of the Arts, and the entrance to the school campus should have been on Montague Avenue.

Academic Magnet students should be glad that more of the campus (dare we say all?) will be complete by next fall. Meanwhile, SOA students have much to contend with, as shown in Monday's article in the P&C, Inspiring Place:

"The vast majority of the school will be ready for students to use today, with the exception of the theater, costume design and musical theater classrooms. About 100 students will be shuttled to the school's former campus for those classes until construction is complete, which should be no later than March. Students will be able to eat in the cafeteria, but the kitchen won't be operational for another couple of weeks. Hot meals will be brought over from the school's former building." My favorite part is the "extra" gym, caused by poor planning regarding the addition of the Academic Magnet. And SOA doesn't even have any athletic teams.

At least the shuttle won't be going very far! Of more concern is the narrowness of the street that will now be inundated with buses and cars. Furthermore, CCSD has planned for major traffic jams next fall by putting two schools on the same campus.

Still, it's nice to see that these SOA students will have the performance spaces they deserve.