Faculty receive training Wednesday at Center Avenue Community School. More than 15 new staff members were hired to work at the school.

Center Avenue School has been undergoing a complete transformation this summer from elementary to community school.

The elementary school, which served students in kindergarten through sixth grade, closed in June along with four other Butler School District elementary buildings under a consolidation plan.

But Center Avenue will open next month as a community school, with a secondary alternative program and a kindergarten through 12th grade emotional support program.

“Addressing every detail has been a challenge, but we've been able to address every obstacle,” said Aaron Royhab, district supervisor of special education.

Hiring more than 15 new staff members to work at the school, coordinating classroom transitions, adding a kitchen and an industrial arts classroom, and enrolling students to attend the school have been among Royhab's responsibilities this summer.

The community school's capacity is about 100 students, with 40 students in the alternative program and 60 students in the emotional support program. As of this week, about 50 students have enrolled between both programs.

There will be a distinct division between the two programs, Royhab said. With the school's hallways shaped like a doughnut, one half of the school, with six classrooms, will be dedicated to the alternative education program. Five classrooms will be for the emotional support program. Those students will be separated through several sets of doors.

Students in both programs will have access to a fitness room with workout equipment, a kitchen, an industrial arts classroom, an art and music classroom, and two Head Start classrooms. A computer lab is equipped with 20 new computers and carts with new tablets.

Center Avenue also is meant to attract students from outside the district to enroll in the new emotional support program. However, not as many students have enrolled as anticipated.

“Due to the pending changes in our school board, concerns about how buildings will be sold in the future, and the pending lawsuit on this topic, this has made it more challenging to recruit students,” Royhab said.

“It seems as if our neighboring districts as well as some of our own families are hesitant to commit to attending our new program due to these unknown factors or misconceptions.

“Fortunately, our school board has been supportive of Center Avenue Community School and I have found that once parents or districts see our new program, they are impressed, excited, and supportive.”

Many of those students currently attend Clarence Brown Community School, which provides the same services through Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, and some don't want to move because they don't want to change schools.

The enrollment issue was discussed with Butler School Board members Monday evening.

Board members John Conrad and Bill Halle said they've always been supportive of the community school. Both members voted against the district's consolidation plan in May.

“I don't believe that the new board coming on has the intention of a complete undoing, or reversal. I don't think there's anyone ... that doesn't recognize there's a need for consolidation,” Conrad said on Monday.

“How it happens with the plan that was chosen was the issue. For example, the community school, I can't imagine. There hasn't been any discussion about not letting that go through.”

About $352,000 has been allocated in the district budget from outside students attending Center Avenue Community School, with 15 students from outside the district anticipated to attend, said Debbie Brandstetter, business manager.

She said the district is also anticipating to save money through attracting district students back to Butler schools who have previously attended schools like Clarence Brown and St. Stephen's. However, those savings would not be reflected as a revenue stream, Brandstetter said.

While enrollment numbers are lagging, Royhab is optimistic those numbers will pick up in both programs after the school opens.

“It's common for these numbers to roll in as the school year starts,” he said.

Alicia Beighley, Center Avenue principal, is excited about the new start. She was assistant principal at the intermediate high school and principal of the PAR program, the after school alternative program Butler previously offered.

“We're very excited to give this opportunity to the school district and the community,” she said.

Aaron Royhab, Butler School District's supervisor of special education, gives a tour of the Center Avenue Community School on Wednesday.