CSS awarded $230,000 Classroom improvement Grant! In partership with PS125 another $50,000 for auditorium improvement

CSS has been awarded, by Scott Stinger- Manhattan Borough President, a major classroom laboratory improvement grant for the amount of $230,000! The grant will allow us to upgrade our existing Science Labs, renovate the new upper school classrooms, and purchase world class laboratory equipment for our accelerated Science and Engineering programs. This comes on top of over $2,500,000 in building funds awarded by DOE this year to renovate our 5th floor bathrooms and storage rooms; build a new Physics-Engineering lab in the 4th floor; and construct a new Biology-Chemistry Lab suite (a classroom, lab and a lab prep room) in the school's basement.

 

The first grant, for $230,000, would further enhance our high school physics and engineering classroom to include a structural pipe grid on the ceiling for hanging experimental apparatus and projects, and a transparent partition separating the the classroom from a small prototyping shop in the adjoining classroom, which would contain state-of-the-art machining, laser-cutting, and 3D-printing technologies also paid for with the grant.  The shatterproof glass partition between the spaces will enable classes to be safely supervised as they move between classroom and prototyping modes of learning.  With these enhancements, high school physics classes will be able to perform a range of typical Newtonian experiments on suspended objects, and to easily wire networked sensors to lab tables from above.  The prototyping shop will support the teaching of AutoCAD and introduce students to the rapid product development cycle that is typical of modern industrial design and mechanical engineering.  Design and construction of custom, low-cost experimental equipment across all the sciences also becomes possible with these tools.

 

The second capital grant, for $50,000, is an extension of our successful collaboration with the two other schools in the building in upgrading the campus auditorium.  The theater's original projection booth will be renovated to enclose all sound and audio control systems, with all cabling to be re-routed to that location.  A remote, digital LCD projector will be fix-mounted in the house, with easy to use audio and video connection points at the stage and the sound-booth. These enhancements will support high quality theater and music productions, facilitate community meetings, and provide advanced learning opportunities for our technical theater crew.  We are excited to have the partnership of PS 125 in bringing these much-needed upgrades to our shared facility.

 

Fulfilling our school's potential demands a facility that supports our mission. These grants represent an important step forward for us in this regard, and we thank Borough President Scott Stringer for making the funding available.  We remain committed to working through every available channel to ensure CSS-MSE can offer world-class STEM learning experiences to its talented and diverse students.

 

We must thank Prof. Andrew Stillman who wrote what now represents the largest single grant ever obtained in CSS's history. Prof. Stillman's grant writing efforts have now topped the $320,000 mark, making him Columbia Secondary's single most successful grant writer. Thank you Prof. Stillman for your many contributions to CSS.