web1_TTL022318Courthouse1.jpg

Luzerne County Council to determine which capital projects are funded

web1_stabbing.jpg

WB resident charged with stabbing deaf homeless man

<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; They were still spreading topsoil and planting hydrangea outside, and the automatic doors and lights weren&#8217;t always quite as responsive as they should be, but Greater Nanticoke Area Superintendent Ron Grevera couldn&#8217;t stop smiling as he showed off Luzerne County&#8217;s newest school Friday.</p><p>&#8220;This is the large group instruction area,&#8221; Grevera said of an open space full of padded, movable seating boxy enough to double as &#8220;fort&#8221; walls in a child&#8217;s imagination. &#8220;They can have lessons here, or bring in an outside speaker, or if a class is misbehaving maybe sit them down to talk.&#8221;</p><p>The new Kennedy Early Childhood Center gets officially unveiled at a public ribbon cutting Sunday at 2 p.m., but Grevera gave enthusiastic tours Friday, showing off a mix of new addition and old space thoroughly revamped &#8212; in most cases, the only clue you&#8217;ve entered the older section is the original terrazzo tile flooring.</p><p>Each room has the latest technological version of the old chalkboard: Promethean &#8220;interactive displays,&#8221; giant flat touch-screens with computer capabilities. Rooms have their own sinks that double as drinking fountains. The cafeteria has indentations in the walls where combo seat-table furniture fits when folded, leaving more floor room for other activities.</p><p>The building is part of a grade-restructuring that Grevera believes will make it easier for teachers to keep track of &#8212; and improve &#8212; academic achievement. Previously, K. M. Smith housed kindergarten and first grade, Kennedy Elementary had only second grade, the Elementary Center had grades 3-5, the Education Center had 6-7 and the high school had 8-12. Expanding and renovating Kennedy turned it into a facility for pre-kindergarten through second grade. The Elementary Center remains the same, while eighth grade is moving to the Education Center. K.M. Smith is closed.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always been a proponent of the middle school concept,&#8221; Grevera said. &#8220;It helps you cater better to the needs of adolescents.&#8221;</p><p>The expansion of Kennedy literally connects it to the Education Center &#8212; a former outside wall of the latter is now an inside wall of the former. Sometime in the future, Grevera said, he hopes to create a door between the two.</p><p>The Kennedy Early Childhood Center will offer all-day kindergarten and half-day pre-K in two sessions, one morning and one afternoon. The new pre-K section is two rooms stocked full of educational toys and play areas, with a teacher office in between. Bathrooms are part of the deal, sporting low, to-size toilets and sinks.</p><p>The renovations took three years from the start of planning to Sunday&#8217;s ribbon cutting, and cost $9 million. The district will be getting about $3 million in state reimbursements, and &#8212; this is another fact that makes Grevera smile &#8212; another $300,000 for making the school LEED (Leading in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.</p><p>&#8220;All the new material is environmentally friendly,&#8221; he said. The building is climate controlled, with lights designed to shut off automatically and efficiency is built into the heating, air conditioning, insulation and plumbing.</p><p>And though school doesn&#8217;t start until Sept. 4, and workers are still scrambling throughout the building doing final touches, most of the classrooms look invitingly student-ready. One second-grade room had books and folders with student names resting neatly next to a glue stick, eraser and box of crayons on each desk.</p><p>Another room had tennis balls on the feet of the little chairs to make it easier for the youngsters to push them around without scuffing the floor.</p><p>&#8220;The teachers have been in here since July 4,&#8221; Grevera said with obvious pride. &#8220;They were so eager to get in I had to hold them back.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The new Kennedy Early Childhood Center houses grades pre-K through 2 in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The new Kennedy Early Childhood Center houses grades pre-K through 2 in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The chairs in this kindergarten classroom in the Kennedy Early Childhood Center in Nanticoke are equipped with tennis balls for noise reduction and floor protection. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>The chairs in this kindergarten classroom in the Kennedy Early Childhood Center in Nanticoke are equipped with tennis balls for noise reduction and floor protection. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">One of the pre-K rooms at Greater Nanticoke Area&#8217;s newly revamped Kennedy Early Childhood Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_4-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>One of the pre-K rooms at Greater Nanticoke Area&#8217;s newly revamped Kennedy Early Childhood Center. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Greater Nanticoke Area School District Superintendent Ron Grevera shows one of the new second-grade classrooms in the Kennedy Early Childhood Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_2-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Greater Nanticoke Area School District Superintendent Ron Grevera shows one of the new second-grade classrooms in the Kennedy Early Childhood Center. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></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>

Take a tour of Greater Nanticoke Area’s renovated school