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ELISABETH DYERBy 2005, the Samuel Rampello School will serve elementary students and middle school children of downtown workers.
The Downtown Partnership School is getting a new building and a new name: the Samuel Rampello School.
The name, approved by the Hillsborough County School Board Tuesday night, beat out 30 others, including 11 submitted by staff, faculty, parents or students at the school. Rampello was a School Board member for 18 years. His last year was 1994.
The school leases space from the First Presbyterian Church of Tampa on Polk Street. The new building, at 802 E Washington St., is scheduled to open in January 2005 for elementary students and August 2005 for middle school students. As a school of choice, it will serve children whose parents work downtown, including some who live in other counties.
"The advantage is quick easy access to their child," said Sandra Spicer, who was appointed assistant principal for elementary instruction at the school Oct. 8. "They can eat lunch together, or if their child is sick they can stop by."
Students got a glimpse at a model of the new school at their fall festival last week.
"They were excited and anxious to move," said Spicer.
The School Board approved the design Oct. 7. Located across the street from the school district headquarters near the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, the school will cost $10.7-million.
"This is the first time we're building a K-8 school from scratch," said Alice Sutton, project coordinator for the school. "Each group of children has different needs. It's been a challenge to blend."
Roland Park in the West Shore business district combines elementary and middle school students, but was converted from an existing middle school.
The steel and masonry construction was designed by Alfonso Architects Inc., which recently renovated Plant High School. It can accommodate 1,226 students.
Because of the school's urban location, school officials paid close attention to safety. The school has a fence and gate around the perimeter, and visitors must enter through the administration area.
Students will also have different educational opportunities from their rural or suburban counterparts. They will have frequent field trips to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and downtown museums, "but things that you see at other schools will be missing," Sutton said. "Baseball fields for instance - no room."
Nor will the school have a gymnasium. Instead, students will play in the courtyard and in the patio area of the three-story middle school building, which borders Washington Street. Lower grades now use the church's small playground, but older students have no outdoor play area.
To give the building a historic element, officials plan to use bricks pulled from East Street along the back of the school.
"We hope to incorporate them in the courtyard and perhaps in the parent drive," said Sutton. "They're beautiful bricks."
- Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at 226-3321 or edyer@sptimes.com