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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Coming soon to the Wilkes-Barre Area School District: A smaller version of a performing arts school proposed a year ago, a new Saturday morning program to boost academic success for some elementary grades, and a &#8220;town hall&#8221; meeting next month at the Mackin building.</p><p>Superintendent Brian Costello touted all three, beginning with a revised plan for a performing arts center. It was first proposed for a scaled-down Meyers High School after the district completed plans to consolidate it and Coughlin into a new school at the Coughlin site in downtown Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The Wilkes-Barre City Zoning Hearing Board scuttled that effort by denying a needed permit for the new school. But Costello said the arts school concept is alive and well and scheduled to begin classes this fall. It just won&#8217;t be housed at Meyers.</p><p>&#8220;We are going to begin developing curriculum for a creative and performing arts school,&#8221; said the superintendent. &#8220;We are moving forward to begin the application process in the spring of 2018, and I&#8217;m hopeful we will have our first cohort of students in the fall of 2018.&#8221;</p><p>Right now, Costello expects the program to be held in GAR Memorial High School &#8220;because of the space that we could utilize.&#8221;</p><p>Costello first floated the plan for a performing arts school during an October 2016 school board meeting, presenting it as a way to re-purpose the massive Meyers complex by razing much of the building while renovating the ornate auditorium and adjacent rooms.</p><p>Memorial Stadium would also get a makeover, with added parking thanks to the demolished sections of the school. The idea also called for renovation and expansion of athletic fields at the Solomon Plains facility. He offered a rough estimate of up to $22 million, suggesting most of that could come from sales of district property and state reimbursement for other planned projects.</p><p>The rejection of the required permits for a new school at Coughlin&#8217;s Washington Street site seemed to nix the plan because it likely means spending millions on land acquisition and site preparation elsewhere. But Costello said the basic idea is still alive.</p><p>The original idea included the possibility of making the performing arts center a regional school accepting students &#8212; and thus tuition money &#8212; from other districts. The current plan will only involve Wilkes-Barre Area students.</p><p><strong>RAISE Saturdays; forum November</strong></p><p>Costello said the district is also expecting grant money that will pay for a new Saturday program called RAISE, for Reinforcing Academic Instruction for Student Excellence. Still being developed, he said a pilot project should begin in December for grades three to six.</p><p>The plan is to offer students &#8220;additional instruction to help get them on grade level,&#8221; using both district staff and local college resources, Costello said. Participating students would spend several hours each Saturday morning in the program, which would include breakfast and either a lunch or snack.</p><p>In addition to all that, Costello announced the date for his next &#8220;town hall&#8221; meeting: 6 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Mackin school building, which currently houses two grades from Coughlin High.</p><p>Costello launched the town hall idea by holding separate meetings at the three high schools Aug. 28, 29 and 30, giving short talks about district plans, fielding questions and offering tours of the buildings.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Costello </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_Brian-Costello-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Costello </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Superintendent: Wilkes-Barre Area performing arts school coming