AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM WILL PUSH FOR ITS NEEDS
C. Waldo Scott Center faces reductions following the closure of Huntington Middle School
NEWPORT NEWS — The closure of Huntington Middle School displaced students but also reduced the number of kids the C. Waldo Scott Center for Hope could serve in its after-school program.
As the city and school division determine the future of Huntington, the futures of the Scott Center and potentially other facilities nearby are being considered as well. Elva Williams Hunt, a board member of the Scott Center, emphasized the need for the center to advocate for its needs and be part of the conversations surrounding the Huntington site.
The Scott Center is on the Wickham Avenue side of Huntington and still uses the school’s gym. The center also has activity and homework space and some computers and other resources.
On a recent Monday afternoon, kids at the center played a game of indoor soccer with staff and volunteers as music blasted through the gym. Staff also will help kids with their homework and organize educational activities and excursions. Similar programs are offered through the summer as well.
Before, the center would use classrooms in Huntington after school let out for additional space for its attendees. But when the school closed, those areas were cut off.
Crystal Rainey, director of the Scott Center, said up to 120 kids used to come after school.
This school year, the center had to reduce that amount by 30. During the day, the center also offers family support, health care, educational programs and other services.
A conceptual design of Huntington presented to the School Board in October did not include space specifically for the Scott Center.
She said representatives of the Scott Center were not extensively involved in early talks about Huntington since the school closed, but they will be more active now and provide information about the needs and impacts of the center.
Williams Hunt has been involved with
the Scott Center since it opened more than 25 years ago in the basement of Whittaker Memorial Hospital and said it’s always relied on a partnership with the city, school division and other local agencies. She said a contingent from the city visited a program in New York City and modeled the Scott Center off of it.
C. Waldo Scott, the center’s namesake, was an area civil rights pioneer and surgeon. He’s also the father of Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Newport News.
The Scott Center property is owned by the school division, and the center pays rent of $1 per year. Most of the funding for the center comes from the city’s community support grants, along with other grants and donations.
The City Council has indicated it would like the study and design work of the Huntington site to include the Scott Center and potentially other facilities nearby, such as the Doris Miller Community Center, built in 1934.
The council and city staff have said they believe that the $2.8 million the council agreed to give the schools would be for study and design beyond just the school. But that money has not yet been appropriated, and the initial concept architects proposed involved just the school.
The School Board has requested $50 million to build a new Huntington Middle School to serve about 600 students.
Mayor McKinley Price said in the Dec. 11 council work session that he’d like work on Huntington to solve more than one problem — not just the school, but also community resources and recreation.
The council said it planned to discuss a wider scope for the Huntington site at its next joint meeting with the School Board. An official date has not been set, but City Manager Cindy Rohlf said they are working on having the meeting Jan. 22.
The council and city staff have said they believe that the $2.8 million the council agreed to give the schools would be for study and design beyond just the school. But that money has not yet been appropriated, and the initial concept architects proposed involved just the school.