Category Archives: schools

Signs for 5th District Community Day (?) Tomorrow

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A sign appeared near Open High, with a duplicate at Holly Street playground:

It says there is a ‘5th District Community Day’ tomorrow, but I do not recall seeing any prior notice or mention of this event. I looked around on other community blogs and did not see mention of this event either (though I did see this interesting post on Byrd Park’s. I am guessing the signs are primarily directed towards school students and parents, given their locations. I am not sure if this is related to the Councilperson’s office or the School Board, though I also saw a campaign sign for our current School Board representative this morning:

VCU Will Test Sirens This Wednesday

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VCU communique:

A full test of the VCU emergency communications system will be conducted Wednesday, Sept. 8 at noon. Full tests of the VCU emergency communications system are conducted twice a year, near the beginning of each semester. These are different from the monthly checks of the siren system that are conducted at noon on the first Wednesday of each month.

The full test of the system will include 10 sirens on both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses along with text messages, digital signs, Alertus devices in classrooms and residence halls, Web site information and social media that are part of a multi-channel system for communicating emergency information to VCU students, employees, parents and neighbors.

The sirens will sound a fast, up-and-down wail for three minutes, and after a one-minute pause, sound a steady wail for one minute to signal “all clear” to end the test.

In a real emergency, sirens will be used when it is imperative to get the attention of everyone outside of VCU buildings because an immediate, life-threatening emergency has occurred or is imminent. People outside but on campus should go to the nearest university building and seek additional information about what is happening. People off-campus should not come to campus but should seek additional information.

Text messaging is a primary communications and information channel because it is fast and reliable. Text messages will be used for notifications about emergencies and closings and delays for inclement weather. There is no cost for enrolling, and you can sign up for text messaging now at www.vcu.edu/notify. Emergency information also is available on the VCU Alert Web site at www.vcu.edu/alert.

We hope you will find that our emergency communications are beneficial to you, and we will continue to work together to provide as safe an environment as possible. As always, we will communicate with our community neighbors when there is any enhancement or change about which you would want to know. And please, do not hesitate to forward this email to your neighbors, to help spread the word about the siren test.

Sincerely,

John M. Bennett
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University

Article: Finding the Balance Between VCU Student Renter and Oregon Hill Resident

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Last year multimedia journalism graduate student Jaclyn O’Laughlin created an article on neighborhood tensions between VCU students and longtime Oregon Hill residents. I have purposely waited to post it here until the semester started.

Here’s an excerpt:

“For many students that are here, they are away from home for the first time and they can go hog wild. It all comes down to the kids being young, which is not a problem, but they don’t have a lot of experience and some of this stuff hasn’t occurred to them,” said Jennifer Hancock, interim president of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association. “The point of view for some of them is that they are only going to be here for four years and they don’t care.”

The residents of Oregon Hill are not trying to pick on or “dog pile” the students, Hancock said. She believes that students have a different perspective than the long-term residents that live in Oregon Hill, because most students know they will only live in the neighborhood for a few years and eventually move away.

Read the entire article and see online video by clicking here.

Finally, ZipCar

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Glad to see this…(I have been asking for about three years..)

RichmondBizSense:
Finally, Zipcar is in Richmond

Zipcar is known for renting cars, usually the environmentally friendly type, by the hour in cities and college campuses across the country. Before coming to Richmond, Zipcar already had cars at the University of Virginia, Old Dominion University and The College of William & Mary.
That’s why it was hard to discern why the company continued to bypass Richmond. BizSense has an inquiry in to Zipcar’s corporate headquarters to find out why Richmond finally got its chance.

TimesDispatch:
VCU offers Zipcars, additional bus service

The cars are not limited to student use, though clean driving records are required. VCU students must be 18 years old and community members at least 21 to rent a car at a cost of $8 an hour on weekdays and $9 on weekends. That includes gas, insurance and 180 free miles.

There’s also an annual membership fee of $35 for students, faculty and staff. Drivers not affiliated with VCU pay a $50 annual fee plus a $25 application fee.

Newspaper Story on New Student Housing East of Belvidere

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The Times Dispatch ran this story today:

Private housing for VCU going up east of Belvidere

Excerpts:

Gilbane Development Co. of Providence, R.I., said its 540-bed, eight-story apartment building off Canal Street should be ready for the start of the 2011 school year.

“We’ll start leasing over the next month,” said Russell Broderick, vice president and senior development manager for Gilbane. “Students will move in in August 2011.”

The $18 million building, designed by Grant Architects of Baltimore, includes 160 apartment units on six levels, and parking on two levels.

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Rents will be in the range of $600 to $700 per person, Broderick said. The units will be furnished.

“We’re excited to offer students a modern environment including amenities which appeal to today’s lifestyle, including flat-screen televisions, in-unit washer/dryers, and full kitchens,” Robert V. Gilbane, chairman and CEO of Gilbane Development, said in a statement.

Campus Advantage will offer students activities designed to create a thriving student community.

The green project was designed in accordance with the LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — accreditation system, the development company said.

The project — called 8½ Canal Street — broke ground in early spring.

With 32,000 students, but only 4,882 spaces for students in university housing, VCU believes demand is sufficient to fill both its own residence halls and privately developed projects…

VCU Move In Days this weekend

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Email from VCU:

MPC move in map.2010

Friends of VCU,

It is time for all new and returning VCU students to begin moving in. This process may impact all of us in different ways. In an effort to better manage, I am attaching our move in maps for both the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV campus. We will begin blocking off surrounding streets at approximately 6:00 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and will end the process at 7pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday. I am also attaching the informational letter we send to students about how the process works.

Ron Brown

St. Andrew’s School at Byrd House Market Tuesday

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Byrd House Market happens every Tuesday from 3:30 pm to 7 pm May thru October.

Greetings all,

Byrd House Market expects much better weather and continued good spirits at this week’s market. St. Andrew’s School will take up their traditional residence in our Byrd House Market information booth; Nandi Shabazz will do face painting (HURRAY!) and Pair-a-dice Farm will be back when the lambs are ready for market once more. If you missed Baby Boy, Wild Heaven’s goat, well you missed a lovely pet (pun intended). We were visited by our friendly neighborhood VDACS health inspector and all went quite well.

If you haven’t been by the market yet this season, don’t let the cool of spring pass you by – jump up and come see the goodies at the market.

Ana Edwards
Market Manager…

and don’t forget to EAT GOOD & GROW GREAT!

—
Byrd House Market
William Byrd Community House
224 South Cherry St. Richmond, VA 23220
ByrdHouseMarket@gmail.com
(804) 643-2717
byrdhousemarket.blogspot.com

New VCU Apartment Building Planned For Monroe Ward

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The Times Dispatch ran an article this past Tuesday on a proposed eight story apartment building for VCU students in nearby Monroe Ward.

From the article:

Gilbane Development Co. is seeking a special-use permit from the city for the 160-unit, 546-bedroom complex, which would include ground-floor retail space along Canal. The project also would include 195 parking spaces—about 1.2 per unit. That translates to a little more than one parking space for every three bedrooms.
The 1-acre site, between South Adams and South Foushee streets and bordering the Downtown Expressway, covers the southern half of the block and is currently an industrial-zoned parking lot. VCU’s Brandcenter is one block to the west, toward Belvidere Street.
Gilbane’s development could be finished sometime next year and would be the first new housing designed for VCU students in Monroe Ward since the university opened its 409-bed residence hall at Cary and Belvidere streets in fall 2008, said Reuban Rodriguez, VCU’s associate vice provost and dean of student affairs. The university has about 32,000 students but on-campus housing for only about 5,000.

Although not in Oregon Hill proper, there was some concern expressed at this past Tuesday’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting that while this project could alleviate some VCU housing needs, it could also bring more traffic and parking issues to the neighborhood.