Tuesday, December 14, 2010
On opening Jim Martin Elementary
Please post your reflections, observations, or other thoughts regarding the administrative side based on conversations with Jim Martin and Ms. Evelyn Cobarruvias. Please write out your thoughts completely; four inches of linear text is the minimum standard. I will post my responses to your responses. dh
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I think that Marin Elementary school was great. Like the fact that they made the school “green”. I also like the fact that Mr. Martin is so involved in his namesake. It was very obvious from the way he went on about the school that he was proud. I understand Ms. Evelyn Cobarruvias hardships with being under staffed at the start of the school year. We were under staffed when we started this year and hired 4 teachers in the first month. I bet it was even hard for the elementary level because at that age it is harder for the kids to adjust.
ReplyDeleteNorthside ISD is a very large district and the functions of planning and managing construction projects often is delegated to the assistant superintendent with very little planning shared with the principal. This contrasts to Northeast where as assistant principals and teachers there was great involvement and interaction with the architect. A difference with smaller districts also was that in Devine the superintendent was involved in every aspect of planning and implementation and had to rely on consultants outside the district. Northside board members were very active and involved in many details of the overall school district planning. Devine board members relied entirely on the superintendent and her relationships with the community and the consultants.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was quite an interesting turn from the beginning that Mr. Martin was really not into the green theme and said he was not a tree hugger; however his work in creating a truly unique and cost efficient and cost saving school was quite a story. I was very impressed and amazed at the technical and policy manuals on the requirements and details of each and every school. Martin elementary is a very amazing school and really a school within a school with rooms to show students how the facilities work, is a special feature in itself. I was very impressed with Mr. Martin’s involvement with the school and thought Ms. Cobarruvias statement on his involvement with the day to day activities and his high involvement with school activities and the students was a great testimony to Mr. Martin’s message to students on the importance of an education as well.
ReplyDeleteMs. Cobarruvias certainly had her hands full at the opening of this school. Most parents are proud and partial to a particular school, and so I can’t imagine some of the conversations and difficulty it must have been to tell many parents their kids would be sent to a different school. I think the challenges of combining teachers from various campuses sounds like a big job as the bringing together of new people and creating a new culture and climate is always a time consuming task. I also liked what Ms. Cobarruvias had to say about getting away and leaving some times and knowing that you have to leave it in your folks hands at times and have the faith in them that they can handle it without you occasionally. This is very true and you have to know this and also know that if something does happen when you are out, that 9 out of 10 times it would have happened even if you were there. Stuff happens, and then you fix it.
Great posts Jeff and Scott. Thanks to both of you for making the semester a success. We certainly had some great experiences. dh
ReplyDeleteIt's was just amazing to me to look at those many binders Mr. Martin had for the district construction requirements. Being from a small district, we have nothing so extensive as those books. (Blinds, waste dispensers, sizes for everything from A to Z, etc.) With the growth of this district I'm sure these outlined requirements make it much easier for the architects to make bids and complete construction to the satisfaction of the district.
ReplyDeleteMs. Cobarruvias seemed to have a lot of things going right for her. I was very impressed that she quickly started having meetings with staff/teachers to plan for the curriculum, procedures, and expectations after she was named principal of Martin. I thought it was neat that they allowed the students to be escorted right out the back to the adjacent neighborhood to meet their parents after school. Sometimes I think we forget that the students and parents are our customers and making our customers successful, as well as, feel comfortable with the school is one of the number one priorities.
Having opened a new school, I know how challenging it can be. I am sure this was compounded with the opening of Martin Elementary School because of the media attention it received. I enjoyed visiting with Ms. Cobarruvias while on the tour and gaining her insight on how she attended to every minute detail to ensure a smooth opening of the school.
ReplyDeleteMr. Martin's enthusiasm and vision for the school was impressive. He has a true heart for education and continues to demonstrate this with his involvement and dedication to the students at Martin Elementary.
It was very interesting touring the school and hearing about the different aspects of the school that contributed to it's "green" status. Having Mr. Martin, Ms. Cobarruvias, and the architect all there to give their perspectives on the school was a benefit.
Thanks for setting that up Tracie!
Northside is successful for many reasons, however, the district's leadership is certainly key and evident. Mr. Martin remained in NISD for many years because of his leadership, knowledge and skills. His vision for establishing standards and processes creates a strong model of efficiency that is long lasting. I really appreciated that Mr. Martin provided us with the insight to the building, as well as the documents developed and used for the building. Those documents were amazing because of the amount of detail they provided. The prototype is a beginning point for the architect, but there is still some leeway provided to personalize the "look".
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that NISD does well, is to communicate with its stakeholders. Every aspect of the school facility has a subcommittee to review the minutest details to meet the needs of that arena: technology, academics, etc.
The presentation by Mr. Martin was amazing. He was fun to listen too and spoke with much authority and the information he had was very organized. It seems as if everything the district does is formalized. Every project is pretty much the same. If I recall correctly the district has as standard for the size of bulbs it used. In reflection, I see that this is what must be done to effectively use public funds. If all schools are doing the same thing and using the sam materials buying in bulk will save the district money. As far a Martin Elementary, the school was great. I love the fact that they built the school with growth in mind. They left room for expanding the building as well as equipped the grounds for the installation of portables. The AC room, units and boilers were amazing. I never thought I would look at something so "simple" and be amazed. There was so many things that I took from this visit. Great job Northside.
ReplyDeleteVisiting Jim Martin Elementary gave me a lot of insight on what a true "green" school was. I thought of it this whole time as saving energy, but through this I learned that the criteria for a green school are building materials that produce as little toxic or extraneous chemicals into the air. I believe that it is such a privlege to have a school named after you in your honor and for Mr. Martin to still be active and involved in the school is terrific. He shared a lot of useful information that normally we would not have known about building a school; for instance, the height of things and their regulations. I was very impressed with the pride that he takes in still being connected to this school.
ReplyDeleteThe principal was also great to hear speak. She talked of all the things that it took to open a new school. I think that her spending so much time interviewing her staff for the job, spending time meeting with them, etc.. shows her commitment to the school and it's success. She also mentioned making time for yourself and taking time off. Taking the time is deffinatley something thats hard to do, but you have to trust in your faculty and staff to take care of things while you are gone. This shows her trust.
Jim Martin Elementary was a marvel of futuristic building technology. It is the first time I have toured a truly 'green' building. There is a program on HGTV called 'This New House,' by the producer of the ancient PBS program 'This Old House,) which explores new green building techniques. I have often watched the program in awe at the possibilities of using all renewable and energy efficient supplies and designs, but never really expected to see them in action due to the restrictive costs. It seems that Mr. Martin and the architects have achieved a highly functional, beautifully designed, learning environment that will pay off dividends in the years to come.
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