East Bay Met School to Construct New Facility

March 30, 2012

A computer generated rendering of the new facility at the Paul W. Crowley East Bay Met School; an alternative, free, public high school in Newport's north end. (Image provided by the RI Dept. of Education)

By Meg O’Neil

NEWPORT -- When the Claiborne d. Pell Elementary School opens its doors in Newport’s north end in the fall of 2013, it won’t be the only new school building in the city. Half a mile down the road, a brand-new, state-of-the-art, $8.8-million facility will be opening for high school students at the Paul W. Crowley East Bay Met School.

Currently housed in the Florence M. Gray Center, the Met School offers a unique approach to education, where students work with individualized, tailored curriculums that connect to real world, hands-on learning experiences.

Plans for the new project were unveiled by Joseph DaSilva from the Rhode Island Department of Education and former Met School principal Charlie Plant at the Newport Housing Authority’s March meeting.

During the meeting, DaSilva said construction will occur approximately 20-feet from the school’s current location, nestling into the natural slope of the site. By not exporting any soil from the area, DaSilva said raising the site would provide panoramic views of the north end’s waterfront. The orientation of the building will also allow maximum shade in the spring and summer months, while reaping sunshine exposure in the winter.

To give the school design a personalized feel, DaSilva explained that students and staff from the Met School were interviewed to provide, what he called, an “enormous” amount of feedback on what they would like to see in the building.

One element of the construction process is the aim to build a nearly completely “green” school. In what DaSilva called a “very aggressive approach,” he said the new East Bay Met will attempt to be, “the most sustainable green building – not only in Newport, or Rhode Island – but potentially in all of New England and the whole east coast.”

With room provided for a community garden, DaSilva said additional items on the school’s “wish list” include photovoltaics on the roof and vertical wind turbines which will help the school reach the ultimate goal of being considered a “Net Zero” school; meaning any energy that the school uses will be harvested onsite and will not rely external energies from the grid.

A balcony with a vegetative roof is also being sought to teach students the benefits of planting. On the northeastern side of the property, DaSilva explained the school hopes to incorporate an amphitheater for theatrical outdoor events. “We’re really proud of what we’re trying to do here,” he added.

With one of the highest college acceptance and retention rates of any high school in the state, Plant said the facility will only strengthen the Met’s academics and referred to the new building as a “real star in the north end of Newport.”

Eventually housing an expected total capacity of 130-students from grades 9 – 12, a contracting group has yet to be hired to start the construction process, DaSilva said. He added, “It’s an aggressive timeline … but we are hoping for a groundbreaking this summer and an opening in September 2013.”

According to RIDE’s executive assistant for communications, Elliot Krieger, the $8.8-million price tag is provided through state funding and covers both the cost of the construction project and acquisition of the site.

With experts calling for a shift in the country’s education system to sway in a more technological direction, Plant said the new facility will be able to gear students towards the job force of the future, saying, “This school is being envisioned as an integral, educational opportunity in and of itself … there’s a space built in there for a hands-on technological area, designed to be a totally digital-literate school so when kids [graduate], they’ve got the digital skill to succeed in any area.”

Members of the Newport Housing Authority lauded the presentation, including NHA Chairman Frank Landry who said, “One thing that jumps out at me is seeing Paul Crowley’s name on there. He would be totally blown away by this structure. To have two beautiful new schools within half a mile of each other – I don’t think the north end will ever be the same.”

March 30, 2012

Comments (11)

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I apologize for all the spelling/grammar errors, I was in a rush, and "Concerned Taxpayer" The facility we currently have is not enough, we dont have enough areas for independant study, we get crowded and distracted, we dont even have a cafeteria. A larger space would allow us to be more productive, have room for larger projects and on site, learning, such as actual computer labs, a fully functioning music studio, and our growing "Fab Lab" Which allows students to design and create through computer software and #-D printing, and will msot definitely be expanding.

Kyler 93 days ago

You need to see what this school can do.

Hi, I'm a student attending the East Bay Met in Newport, I'm a sophomore currently. In the past 2 years (about) alone, I've been able to become so much more independent and aquire skills and knowledge directly related to my post-high school life. I've had 5 independant, trimester long projects, showcasing my research, writing, and presentation ability; each project ending with an hour long (or more) oral presentation to panelists consisting of teachers, parents, peers, and mentors. Which brings me to the mentors, we are REQUIRED to have an internship every year, going full days Tuesdays and Thursdays, and write detailed journals about our days. Without this huge chunk of our curriculum, we fail, so its set upon us, with the help of our advisors, to actively seek out possible internship sites, adn make that a reality, and the list of experience students have aquired through any businesses and the like is absolutely amazing. I myself hade an internship Personal Computing Inc. last year and learned how to build, operate, program, troubleshoot, and repair computers for both at home users and businesses. My mentor taught me so much, that I was able to go to his clients, such as real-estate offices and do professional-grade work, satisfying the customers. I can actually put the knowledge to good use in the future, and I do so now. Opportunities like this are what make the Met great. Another thing, we started a small bike shop, and now the leaders of it are in contact or part of city commities, lobbying for safer roads for bikers, of which there are so many active in our school. Through this program, I've learned basic mechanics and all the healthier for exercising every day on a bicycle. But getting off topic, the MET is more of an "idea" giving those students, who wish to take charge of their education, ample opportunity to excel and stand out above their peers. I believe I amn one of those students, through the school, like any, I've taken SAT prep, and taken the PSAT, and am currently, through a program at the MET, taking a 100-level course at Salve Regina University (BIO 111 & BIO 112) for ACTUAL credit, which goes on my transcript. Sure there will always be slackers, and in this school, its easy for them to fall through the cracks, but the people who take advantage of this, have a much better chance in succeeding later in life, through experience, independance, work ethic, and a generally better understanding of the community and all that is involved. (through interviews, internships, and the ecxperiences shared with each other on projects and the like. That was my tidbit about this school.

Kyler 93 days ago

Yes!

Yes, net zero IS worth twice the cost!!

Melissa Minto 118 days ago

Use existing resources

Period.

There's plenty of empty classroom space available to support an internship based curriculum. Use it.

And jon, it's "family".

Concerned Taxpayer 311 days ago

east bay met

Its not "money down the drain" at the short amount of time I've spent at the met I've learned so much. We learn through real world learning and present projects that impacts our community. I get to experience new thinngs every day at an internships . Plus the met doesn't feel like school it feels like faimly

jon 312 days ago

Taxpayer

What a waste of RIDE resources. A seperate school to educate 40 students at each grade level. There is plenty of space in the current high schools on the island and these students would do perfectly fine in those at no additional cost. We should be reducing the number of high schools on the island, not buidling a $9M school for 160 students. And the big payoff is that 20 students per year go to CCRI?

More dollars down the drain more than 1 years ago

Met school response

And if they are going to CCRI? What difference does it make? They are continuing their post-secondary education. Not every student can go on to four year colleges.The people at met schools are taking a different approach to education and for being around less than 10 years, I'd say the results are rather impressive so far.

Greyson more than 1 years ago

Show me the numbers

Since the MET school has too few students taking SAT test or AP classes for RIDE to report the scores it is hard to find other data to back up Mr. Plant's claims. Where are the students going to college? CCRI?

Still Skeptical more than 1 years ago

met school

the article doesn't say the met has the highest college retention and college acceptance rates in the state. it says it's "one of" the highest in the state. and i think charlie plant was referring specifically to the easy bay met and not all met schools combined. the numbers you provided are proficiency scores probably from NECAP tests, having nothing to do with college acceptance and retention rate stats.

greyson more than 1 years ago

Prove It

The MET schools have the highest retention and college acceptance rates in the state? RHS has a 76 % proficiency rate in reading compared to 66% for MET and 27% for math compared to 15% for MET. Someone is not telling the truth.

Skeptical more than 1 years ago

Cost Per Student?

Nice to have RIDE pay the entire bill without consideration for cost. This building will cost $67,692 per student while the Pell School will cost $35,714. I don't remember being asked to vote on the MET school construction project. Is net zero worth twice the cost?

Taxpayer more than 1 years ago