PUTNEY — Founded in 1960 by a small group of idealistic parents and educators, The Grammar School in Putney offers “an excellent academic, artistic, athletic and ethical foundation” for children in preschool through eighth grade.
Unfortunately, the forward-thinking founders of the school did not, at that time, foresee the challenges that the building and grounds would pose to those with physical disabilities who might wish to participate in its programs. Few were thinking along these lines at that time.
Fifty years after its founding, The Grammar School has kicked off its project to renovate the school's campus to provide access to the physically challenged. The school has set September 2012 as the target date for completion of the project.
As an independent school grandfathered under Title lll of the Americans with Disabilities Act, TGS is not required by law to be accessible. But as Development Director Pauline O'Brien noted, “It is the right thing to do.” She points out that the project reflects The Grammar School's commitment to its core values, which include the cultivation of “social awareness and responsibility in the broader world.”
Reflective of these values, scholarships and financial aid make the school accessible to students of diverse backgrounds.
The goals of the accessibility project are to adequately serve the current school community; to increase participation by others with physical disabilities in programs and events; and to become a model of inclusiveness, with the belief that quality education should be accessible to all. The total cost of the project is estimated at $256,200.
TGS parent and alumna Alicia Brelsford Dana, who has been in a wheelchair for more than 20 years, commented that it is not easy for her to move around the building and be as involved as other parents in her daughter's education. Currently there are only two accessible classrooms in the school, so Brelsford Dana's daughter has had to repeat classrooms so her mother can visit her in school.
Brelsford Dana appreciates the effort TGS has made to move homerooms every year, but she is eager to see the whole building accessible. She stressed that a school accessible to all would benefit others, as well; there are many public events at the school that should be open to everyone. By making the school fully accessible, TGS would serve as a model among independent schools that are similarly exempt from the requirements of physical access.
Currently the school has wheelchair access on two of its five levels. New construction seven years ago included wheelchair access to the theater and auditorium, computer lab, a classroom, and bathrooms on the top level.
Last year, a ramp was built to the main entrance into the cubby room, and this year the two bathrooms off the cubby room were redesigned to be accessible as well. There also is a new ADA compliant entrance door to the school. The next stage will include fundraising for an Exterior Vertical Platform Lift ($37,000) and a Passenger Elevator ($187,000), to be installed by August 2012.
Encouraged by a letter from Franklin Reeve, father of actor Christopher Reeve and also a friend of Brelsford Dana's father, the late Edmund Brelsford, TGS applied to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for a grant of $25,000. The grant will be used to help complete fundraising for the project, and most of the construction for accessibility will be funded through individual gifts.
Brelsford Dana noted that her father was a loyal supporter of The Grammar School; all five of his children and six of his grandchildren attend or are alumni, and Brelsford was also a trustee. Brelsford's family has established a fund in his memory for The Grammar School's accessibility project.
Persons wishing to donate to the project may send a check to The Grammar School Accessibility Project, 69 Hickory Ridge Rd. South, Putney, VT 05346.