Category Archives: schools

Civic Leaders and their Neighborhoods At U of R

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From the University of Richmond’s Center for Civic Engagement:

CCE Brown Bag: Civic Leaders and their Neighborhoods Friday, Feb. 12, 12:30-1:25 p.m., Weinstein Hall Brown Alley Room 313
Join us for this week’s Brown Bag discussion on “Civic Leaders and their Neighborhoods” with Ryan Rinn, executive director, Storefront for Community Design; Jo White, chapter commander, Alliance of Guardian Angels; and Maura Meinhardt, citizen leader, Oregon Hill neighborhood. Please note: this week’s Brown Bag discussion will be in the Weinstein Hall Brown Alley Room 313 (not THC 305).
http://engage.richmond.edu/events/brown-bag/index.html

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Profile On New Binford Principal

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The Times Dispatch has a good profile on Melissa Rickey, the new principal at Binford Middle School, Oregon Hill’s public middle school.

Excerpt:

Rickey was hired in May to lead the turnaround of Richmond’s Binford Middle School.
The once-popular school in the Fan District struggled academically for years and, after its enrollment dipped to barely 200 students last year — about 40 percent of building capacity — city school leaders debated whether they wanted to keep it open.
Instead of closing the school, Superintendent Dana T. Bedden and his staff proposed using it as the home for two new-to-Richmond academic programs, the College Board’s Springboard program and their own arts-integrated curriculum.
Then they hired Rickey from Chesterfield County, where she had been a teacher and an administrator, to make it all work.

Havana Mañana

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Dear President Rao,

I read with interest in today’s Richmond Times Dispatch that VCU has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a Cuban university. As your neighboring Oregon Hill representative on VCU’s Community Advisory Board, I congratulate you on this effort but I question why VCU is able to work out a Memorandum of Understanding with a Cuban university but unable to work on a MOU with your neighbors in Oregon Hill.

Your neighbors in Oregon Hill have repeatedly requested a written agreement approved by the VCU Board of Visitors stating that VCU will honor West Cary Street as the border between the Oregon Hill Historic District and VCU. We need a MOU that VCU or its foundations will not purchase property south of Cary Street within the Oregon Hill Historic District. This is of particular importance now that VCU is purchasing property outside the boundaries of its Master Plan, without consulting with the community.

Please let us know when you would agree to meet with representatives of the Oregon Hill neighborhood in order to produce such a Memorandum of Understanding. I believe that your neighbors deserve the same regard as a university in Cuba.

Sincerely,
Scott Burger

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Navel Blockade

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This photo is from yesterday morning when Open High School kids were helping unload boxes of navel oranges from truck on Pine Street.

By the way, the December 8th meeting of the Open High PTSA is cancelled, however they will meet in January.

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OHNA Asks VCU To Preserve Historic Baths Building

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From email today:

Dear President Rao,

At the October meeting of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA), a resolution was passed to request that VCU preserve the facade of the historic Branch Baths building on the site of the Gladdings Residence dormitory on Main Street. We also resolved to express our appreciation for the work of Tito Luna who has done an admirable job in keeping the neighborhood informed regarding the new residence dormitory. According to Mr. Luna, the contractor for the project has been selected. But, unfortunately, the RFP for the replacement dormitory made no mention of preserving the facade of the Branch Baths building.

Attached to this e-mail is an article on the construction of the second Branch Baths on Main Street from the May 15, 1912 edition of the Times Dispatch. The article notes that no expense was spared by architect Mitchell in constructing the baths with an elegant facade of Indiana limestone.

Also attached is a summary of the Branch Bath #2 annual reports from 1915 – 1918. In 1918, the report indicates that 47,433 bathers used the facility in the previous calendar year. This remarkable figure is an indication of the bath’s importance historically in the life of Oregon Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods, whose residents relied upon the public baths before private indoor-plumbing was ubiquitous.

Also attached is the a 2006 photograph of the Branch Baths from the Valentine Collection. The facade of the Branch Baths #2 should be preserved because of its historical and architectural value to the city of Richmond.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hancock
President
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association

New Branch Baths, Richmond Times Dispatch, May 15, 1912. copyBranch Bath #2, Valentine Collection 2006Branch Bath #2 1918 annual report

State Senate Political Debate Set For VCU on Oct. 20

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From VCU press release:

10th District Virginia Senate candidates to face off at VCU

RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 14, 2015) – The leading candidates for the 10th District seat in the Virginia Senate will field questions from young voters at a town hall on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Republican Glen Sturtevant and Democrat Dan Gecker will discuss key issues from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 303 of Hibbs Hall, 900 Park Ave., on VCU’s Monroe Park campus.

The event is sponsored by Virginia21, a nonpartisan group representing the state’s young voters; the VCU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists; and VCU’s Department of Political Science and the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

Gecker, a member of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, and Sturtevant, a member of the Richmond School Board, are vying to succeed Republican Sen. John Watkins, who is retiring.

The outcome of the Nov. 3 election could determine whether Republicans continue to control the Virginia General Assembly. The GOP dominates the House of Delegates and has a 21-19 advantage in the Virginia Senate.

Watkins is considered a political moderate who has sided with Democrats on some issues, such as expanding Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income residents. In recent statewide elections, the 10th Senate District has leaned Democratic.

The district includes parts of the VCU campus, part of Chesterfield County and all of Powhatan County. For a full map of the district, go to: http://www.vpap.org/offices/state-senate-10/district-map/.

During the town hall, Sturtevant and Gecker will answer questions from a panel of young voters assembled by Virginia21. They will include VCU, community college and high school students. The candidates will also take questions from the audience.

The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Guests must RSVP at: bit.ly/VA21TownHallatVCU.

Libertarian Carl Loser and Independent Marleen Durfee also are running for the 10th Senate District seat. It is among a half-dozen Senate races that are considered especially competitive this fall.

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RPS Open Enrollment

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From a neighbor:

If anyone in the neighborhood is looking at applying for Open Enrollment with RPS for the 2016-2017 school year the schedule has been moved up. The application process use to take place in January but now will be held September 28-October 9. If you want to apply for your child to attend an out of zone school for the next school year this is your only window for the application. Information is at the link below:

http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/Departments/PupilPersonnelServices/OpenEnrollment.aspx