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ST. STEPHEN'S ARMENIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EXPANDS TO ACCOMMODATE GROWING STUDENT BODY
By Alin Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff
August 9, 2012 3:56 pm
WATERTOWN - By mid-September, St. Stephen's Armenian Elementary School
(SSAES) will throw open the doors of its new 6,000-square-foot
addition, built to accommodate its growing student body as well
as provide more instructional and recreational spaces for current
students.
The projected cost of the construction is $1.3 million; through a
variety of fundraising activities, the school is on target with the
project's funding. Creative means for raising money have included a
phone drive by recent graduates and selling bricks with students'
names, which will pave the walkway in front of the building. Avak
Kahvejian, the president of the Board of Directors of SSAES, said the
project is timely. The bulk of the SSAES campus - kindergarten through
fifth grade - is located inside the Armenian Educational and Cultural
Center (ACEC) on Nichols Avenue. Under the plan, the existing nursery
building on Elton Avenue housing pre-nursery through two nursery
grades - will expand into the site of a now-demolished house next to
it, which St. Stephen's Armenian Church, the parent organization of
the school, had bought long ago, with a future expansion in mind.
Construction of the addition to the nursery building began immediately
upon the conclusion of the school term in June. The school will open
on time in early September, but the kindergarten classes will relocate
to their new home in the new addition later in the month.
Houry Boyamian, the principal of SSAES, praised the expansion effort.
"The expansion will give us the opportunity to breathe here. It is so
congested. There is no room for growth. This solves our capacity issues
and also give us the opportunity to participate in new programs,"
she explained.
When the expansion is completed, the building will accomodate about
60 students, roomy enough to add more nursery classes as well as be
the new building for kindergarten classes. There will be four new
classrooms and on the basement level, a large activities area for
flexible use by all students.
"The idea isn't to add classes, but to relieve student density and
prevent overcrowding at the ACEC building," Kahvejian said. "Spreading
out students will allow us to split classrooms. The demand is there.
We have had to put some students on a waiting list."
The expanded facilities, Kahvejian added, will also help create
necessary space for elementary students to participate in the programs
for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Initiative,
for which the school has received a $10,000 planning grant from the
Gelfand Family Charitable Trust. The new additional space will allow
the elementary division to have a science lab.
With the new lab, "The kids can experiment, collect data, and analyze
them," Boyamian said, thus meeting STEM criteria. In addition, the
additional space can help with the increasing number of toddlers
participating in the Mayrig and Me and Manoog and Me music programs.
Currently the school has almost 180 students. The incoming kindergarten
class will have 26 students, first grade 20 and second grade 21
students, making it the first year there will be two classes for the
second graders.
"The trend is that at the elementary level, every grade will have two
classes," Boyamian explained. "I'm very excited. I'm very happy. This
shows growth."
Noted Kahvejian, "These projects are very important. The diaspora
is an important part of the Armenian community. Half of the Armenian
population lives outside Armenia. We are one nation and spread out. It
is imperative to support the
schools" in order to prevent the loss of Armenian identity in the
diaspora.
Kahvejian is happy with the pace of the construction as well as
the execution of the expansion. "Many people thought we couldn't be
successful. There was a lot of skepticism."
Boyamian said the school has produced 236 graduates. "When we started,
all the students in grades nursery to fifth were in this building
[the ACEC]. Then, when it wasn't feasible, the church gave us a
building and we added five classes" for the nursery students, moving
them out of the ACEC. "Some asked if we could fill it. Within two to
three years, we had to add another classroom," she explained. Now,
again, the school has reached a similar situation.
The private, pre-nursery-Grade 5 elementary school, which was
founded in 1984 with a handful of students, received an award from
Armenia's Ministry of Diaspora in 2010 as "Best Armenian School"
in the diaspora. It is the only Armenian day school to be fully
accredited by the Association of Independent Schools in New England,
the accrediting body for independent elementary schools in the region.
For more information about the school, visit ssaes.org.
By Alin Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff
August 9, 2012 3:56 pm
WATERTOWN - By mid-September, St. Stephen's Armenian Elementary School
(SSAES) will throw open the doors of its new 6,000-square-foot
addition, built to accommodate its growing student body as well
as provide more instructional and recreational spaces for current
students.
The projected cost of the construction is $1.3 million; through a
variety of fundraising activities, the school is on target with the
project's funding. Creative means for raising money have included a
phone drive by recent graduates and selling bricks with students'
names, which will pave the walkway in front of the building. Avak
Kahvejian, the president of the Board of Directors of SSAES, said the
project is timely. The bulk of the SSAES campus - kindergarten through
fifth grade - is located inside the Armenian Educational and Cultural
Center (ACEC) on Nichols Avenue. Under the plan, the existing nursery
building on Elton Avenue housing pre-nursery through two nursery
grades - will expand into the site of a now-demolished house next to
it, which St. Stephen's Armenian Church, the parent organization of
the school, had bought long ago, with a future expansion in mind.
Construction of the addition to the nursery building began immediately
upon the conclusion of the school term in June. The school will open
on time in early September, but the kindergarten classes will relocate
to their new home in the new addition later in the month.
Houry Boyamian, the principal of SSAES, praised the expansion effort.
"The expansion will give us the opportunity to breathe here. It is so
congested. There is no room for growth. This solves our capacity issues
and also give us the opportunity to participate in new programs,"
she explained.
When the expansion is completed, the building will accomodate about
60 students, roomy enough to add more nursery classes as well as be
the new building for kindergarten classes. There will be four new
classrooms and on the basement level, a large activities area for
flexible use by all students.
"The idea isn't to add classes, but to relieve student density and
prevent overcrowding at the ACEC building," Kahvejian said. "Spreading
out students will allow us to split classrooms. The demand is there.
We have had to put some students on a waiting list."
The expanded facilities, Kahvejian added, will also help create
necessary space for elementary students to participate in the programs
for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Initiative,
for which the school has received a $10,000 planning grant from the
Gelfand Family Charitable Trust. The new additional space will allow
the elementary division to have a science lab.
With the new lab, "The kids can experiment, collect data, and analyze
them," Boyamian said, thus meeting STEM criteria. In addition, the
additional space can help with the increasing number of toddlers
participating in the Mayrig and Me and Manoog and Me music programs.
Currently the school has almost 180 students. The incoming kindergarten
class will have 26 students, first grade 20 and second grade 21
students, making it the first year there will be two classes for the
second graders.
"The trend is that at the elementary level, every grade will have two
classes," Boyamian explained. "I'm very excited. I'm very happy. This
shows growth."
Noted Kahvejian, "These projects are very important. The diaspora
is an important part of the Armenian community. Half of the Armenian
population lives outside Armenia. We are one nation and spread out. It
is imperative to support the
schools" in order to prevent the loss of Armenian identity in the
diaspora.
Kahvejian is happy with the pace of the construction as well as
the execution of the expansion. "Many people thought we couldn't be
successful. There was a lot of skepticism."
Boyamian said the school has produced 236 graduates. "When we started,
all the students in grades nursery to fifth were in this building
[the ACEC]. Then, when it wasn't feasible, the church gave us a
building and we added five classes" for the nursery students, moving
them out of the ACEC. "Some asked if we could fill it. Within two to
three years, we had to add another classroom," she explained. Now,
again, the school has reached a similar situation.
The private, pre-nursery-Grade 5 elementary school, which was
founded in 1984 with a handful of students, received an award from
Armenia's Ministry of Diaspora in 2010 as "Best Armenian School"
in the diaspora. It is the only Armenian day school to be fully
accredited by the Association of Independent Schools in New England,
the accrediting body for independent elementary schools in the region.
For more information about the school, visit ssaes.org.