COLUMBUS SCHOOL
800 ALLSTON WAY * 644-8811 * BARBARA LEE, PRINCIPAL

Imagine fifth grade students hard at work in a state-of-the-art science lab, not only during school hours, but also after school. They may be building land form models to describe how erosion occurs, or solving problems in weight and distance through the use of pendulums, while outside in the science yard second graders may be noting their observations in a teaching garden, or perhaps tracking weather patterns, using wind and temperature gauges, as well as barometers. Parents coming to pick up their children may stay to participate in these experiments, or perhaps to discuss future projects with a representative of an area scientific firm with whom the school has formed a partnership. On the playground and in the new gymnasium other students play supervised sports, while others work on homework projects in the computer lab.

Welcome to Columbus School, a vision and a building designed with the input of parents, teachers, staff, and neighbors over the course of three years. The brand new school will open in September, 1997 and principal Barbara Lee can hardly wait.

"What other schools dream about doing, we've had the rare opportunity to do," says Lee. "We have a setting specifically designed to match our program, and we have a program that will challenge all students, and guarantee all of them success."

The program's foundation is in reading -- in being sure that each beginning reader has the necessary basic skills, and also in helping each to develop a life-long love of literature. The secret? "Books," Principal Lee explains. "We will have such a wealth of books of every sort, on every subject, that no student will ever turn away from a shelf without a new, untapped adventure in hand."

At Columbus, books will be available in Spanish as well as in English, to serve the school's Spanish-speaking students. Thanks to a major federal grant, Columbus will be able to offer a program designed to graduate students fluent in two languages by the end of fifth grade. "Our program will be open to Spanish and English speaking students at each grade level," says Lee. "Our goal is to become a model for programs in this field."

Designed in clusters of small buildings surrounding interior courtyards, Columbus will give teachers the opportunity to share knowledge and to collaborate, and will give students and staff alike a feeling of being at home. The family resource center will extend that welcome to the wider school community; parents can come to the school for specific services, or to work on projects, or simply to relax and chat. Because the school will be open from early morning through evening, working parents will find childcare on campus, and students and community members can find a wide range of before and after-school enrichment activities. An on-campus preschool program will allow families of younger children to take advantage of Columbus's location and design.

Thanks to the hard work of the planning committee and generous support of the business and private community, the Columbus School Capital Campaign has raised funds and created partnerships that will allow the school to build its full-sized gymnasium and second pre-school room, as well as equipping the science and computer labs. Principal Lee invites new parents to join in the excitement of this new school. "This is the program the whole city will be talking about a year from now. Welcome to Columbus School, where learning extends far beyond the school day!"

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