Mayor opens new NorthwestOne Library at Walker Jones Elementary School
Mayor Adrian Fenty, DCPL Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper, the new interim DPR Director Jesús Aguirre, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, ANC6C02 Commissioner Mark Dixon, Walker Jones Principal Dr. Jeffrey Grant and several news crews were on hand for the ribbon cutting and official opening of the NorthwestOne Library, co-located with Walker Jones Elementary School and the new RH Terrell Recreation Center on New Jersey Avenue and L Street NW.
Although Mayor Fenty did not comment on the expected closure/merger of Scott Montgomery ES with Walker Jones, ANC6C02 Commissioner Mark Dixon noted that he met for more than an hour in a one-on-one meeting with Chancellor Rhee last week as she explained her proposal to him and addressed his concerns. As Dixon said, although some parents of Scott Montgomery students don't want their school closed or to move them to Walker Jones, Chancellor Rhee does not plan to close the school building at Scott Montgomery and expects that if Scott Montgomery leaves the facility in Ward 2, that KIPP DC will likely expand to server pre-K to 6 grades giving local parents in Shaw an alternative to sending students to Walker Jones.
In his first tour of the DCPS/DCPL/DPR Facility since the buidling doors opened, Mayor Fenty said the city has made great progress with this facility which was a fantastic example of how the city plans to address decades of neglect of the city's libraries, schools and recreation centers. He also said that he wants agency heads to be sure to keep computer labs and equipment in the new facility up to date to better server residents.
DCPL Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper (second from left) gave Mayor Fenty and Councilmember Wells a tour of the new DCPL facility which includes a childrens' reading area, mobile laptop stations, and a very large computer lab (I counted at least 20 computers in the room, several being used, one notably by a resident on the WashPost jobs site). Ms Cooper noted that many job opportunities around the District give not other option than to apply online and this will make DCPL computer labs very important resources.
Mayor Fenty, Councilmember Wells, and Walker Jones Principal Dr. Jeffrey Grant talked with local students about the exciting new library which will be a convenient amenity for students at Walker Jones in addition to their own state of the art school library 2 flights up.
Principal Grant, gave a tour of the schools hi-tech and light-filled library equipped with several big screen iMacs for student use.
DCPL Librarian Cooper and Commissioner Mark Dixon were very pleased with the opening. Commissioner Dixon reportedly met with Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells twice a week for almost a year to keep the project on track and to ensure that it met the needs of residents in Commissioner Dixon's single member district.
DPR Interim Director Jesús Aguirre (left), who has been on the job for about five days, and Commissioner Mark Dixon (ANC6C02). Aguirre plans to support the community with great programs for residents.
The state of the art RH Terrell gymnasium will likely be a new polling station for residents in the area in the upcoming elections.
Comments
Even Mayor Fenty seems to be averse to crossing NY Ave/Rt 1
-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Moulton
To: Michael.Cwidak-Kusbach@dc.gov; Sandy.Castor@dc.gov
Cc: [...] francisco.fimbres@dc.gov; andrew.huff@dc.gov; jackevans@dccouncil.us; ChappleANC@aol.com; Shawneighborhood@yahoogroups.com; michelle.rhee@dc.gov; melissa.martin@dc.gov; [...] kwamebrown@dccouncil.us; mbrown@dccouncil.us
Sent: Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:32 pm
Subject: Re: Request Regret Regarding Walk-through with Mayor Fenty
Dear Mr Cwidak-Kusbach and Ms Castor,
With all due respect, I was with the Mayor this morning during the ribbon cutting (see url below) at NorthwestOne Library/Walker Jones ES and it would have be so very very easy and wise for His Honor to walk just a few yards up the street with a few parents to show that he is personally abundantly aware of the pedestrian issues and hazards for the inevitable straggler students who happen to miss a school bus and are left to cross the dangerous intersection alone, and might escape notice of crossing guards if they are present.
http://www.CCCA-online.org/NorthwestOneLibrary
This request was made first many weeks ago and I hope you and the Mayor will reconsider since time is short. If the Mayor signs off on Chancellor Rhee's proposal, it will be remembered during the next election that he did not want to bother to come face to face with his own constituents on this issue as a mature and caring public servant and bold leader would do. Pretending the problem does not exist and being afraid to face it direclty, will not make it go away. The citizens of the District of Columbia don't deserve leaders who are afraid or not to be bothered with facing and speak confidently about their decisions on important, and indeed, life threatening issues.
I was on K Street this morning, just after the ribbon cutting, crossing an intersection a few blocks from Walker Jones on my bicycle and was almost hit by a white van that came to a screeching halt just a few feet away from me because the driver wasn't paying attention. I'm a seasoned cyclist, more than six feet tall, and I was crossing with the proper traffic signal. The NJ/NY Ave/Rt 1/395 intersections pose a greater danger to adults, as an incident just last week showed. It's a nightmare for children under 4 feet tall.
Although also apparently too busy to do a walk through with parents herself, Chancellor Rhee has been very responsive on related issues and I look forward to seeing a reasonable plan put forward that puts students and their safety first.
Sincerely,
— Martin
Martin Moulton, President
Convention Center Community Assocation
CCCA-online.org | (202) 422-1161
-----Original Message-----
From: Cwidak-Kusbach, Michael (EOM)
To: moultonm@aol.com; [...]
Sent: Mon, Dec 7, 2009 5:29 pm
Subject: Request Regret Regarding Walk-through with Mayor Fenty
Dear Mr. Moulton and Ms. Fries,
Mayor Fenty thanks you for the invitation to hold a walk-through with the parents of Scott Montgomery in regards to the street crossing concerns. Unfortunately, due to his current schedule we are unable to offer a meeting. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our director of scheduling, Sandy Castor, at Sandy.Castor@dc.gov
Sincerely,
Michael Cwidak-Kusbach
Scheduling Specialist
Executive Office of the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 327
Washington, D.C. 20004
Phone: 202.727.1092
Mobile: 202.255.0391
Fax: 202.727.8527
Michael.Cwidak-Kusbach@dc.gov
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