Written by For my place I chose Ossining High School.
Like many schools, OHS has many feature to keep its students and staff safe. Each door is alarmed and can not be opened from the outside. Security is posted by the two established entrance ways for the school. These entrances are near the corner of the football field and at the gym entrance (the white roof) which can be seen in the overhead picture below.
Some of the needs of OHS is more space. In recent years, the school population has dramatically increased. This has led the school to reach it’s physical capacity with classrooms filled with 20-30 students. A way that the district has addressed this is the purchase of the church next door (left of the white roof). This additional space will be renovated to accommodate student needs however there are challenges that will be faced in incorporating this space into OHS. One of which is the presence of asbestos which will significantly delay any renovations. Another, challenge will be the church’s historic standing in the community. Due to the church’s age, the exterior can not be altered in anyway. This means that not only can the building not be demolished, but there can be no expansions to the existing footprint. With these restrictions, the need of more space may not be met for several years.
With the increasing population, I hope that they are able to expand sooner rather than later.
Trent. The architecture of this school is amazing. A lot of heart and soul went into creating it. I understand that the population increase is a challenge, but I am hopeful that a solution will be reaching in time.