Andrea Berry’s Decatur EdTV has some dang good coverage of the recent groundbreaking at Decatur’s soon-to-be 4/5 5th Avenue Academy.

CSD Fifth Avenue Academy Groundbreaking from Decatur EDtv on Vimeo.

Late last week, DHS teacher Chris Billingsley took a final tour of the 5th Avenue School property before it has its meeting with the wrecking ball beginning tomorrow.

Above are his pictures, below his written account. Many thanks to Chris for forwarding all this material!

As a life-long resident of Decatur, I found it strange that this was my first and last tour of the historic 5thAvenue school. I grew up on the north side and never had much experience in south Decatur until I started teaching at DHS in the 1970s. My first surprise was that the main entrance was not on Oakview (the grand, twenty step staircase that fronts Oakview) but the entrance that faces 5th Avenue. It reminded me of the old Ponce Elementary School and Winnona Park.

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Like this apparently.  From last night’s city Planning Commission meeting docs…

Click to enlarge or click over to the PDF to check out the latest site and floor plans.

The DNO e-pub reports that the plans received approval from the planning commission last night.

Like anyone had to ask!

But seriously, here’s the opportunity many have been waiting for with bated breath.  I just received this note from Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen…

The architect for the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue will be available at several locations in the coming days to hear from community members regarding their ideas for the new building. All meetings are open to the public. Time to offer ideas will be created based on the number of speakers that wish to speak. If a community member would rather offer input electronically, the email address fifthavenue@csdecatur.net has been set up for that purpose.

• Jan 19 Glennwood SLT meeting 4 pm
• Jan 19 Clairemont SLT meeting 5:30 pm
• Jan 20 Winnona Park SLT meeting 6 pm
• Jan 20 Decatur High School Performing arts center 7:30 pm, designed for current 4/5 parents
• Jan 25 Oakhurst SLT meeting 4:15 pm
• Jan 25 Oakhurst Neighborhood Association 7 pm

Beach Volleyball Court!  Beach Volleyball Court!  Beach Volleyball Court!

Residents who signed a letter to the City School of Decatur administration say they are perplexed.

In what has become a public volley of lengthy letters, the latest response from the group of Decatur residents who first submitted concerns about the size of the 5th Avenue school site say they are still waiting for a response “on the substance of our letter”. Letter drafters Lisa Coronado Mauldin and Don Calder wrote in their response…

Our letter never identified or promoted the Beacon Hill site as an alternative to Glennwood’s or Fifth Avenue’s, but Dr. Edwards expounded on all the reasons why she and her experts believed Beacon Hill was a bad idea.

At its core, our letter stands for the following: In light of newly-identified/acknowledged site limitations, CSD should pause for a fully informed, transparent and inclusive review of whether a new 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue represents a substantial and lasting improvement over Glennwood.  Glennwood is experiencing considerable strain due to overcrowding. CSD is executing a plan to spend $8 million (plus interest) building its largest elementary school, in effect, on its smallest site.

Dr. Edwards’ Christmas Day letter did spend considerable time elaborating on problems redeveloping the old Beacon Hill school site, which were discussed in length on this website, but not specifically referenced in the letter.  In direct relation to the size of 5th Avenue’s acreage, Edwards had this to say…

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