Why not let kids experience outdoor play at ground level? So many of them will be sky-high condo dwellers, time spent on a playground makes loads of sense.

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Ground level play yard definitely makes sense, the bigger the school yard the better. But they should really be building this bigger than necessary. Schools ALWAYS end up with too many students, and a cluster of portables here will not look pretty.
 
stjames2queenwest said:
Ground level play yard definitely makes sense, the bigger the school yard the better. But they should really be building this bigger than necessary. Schools ALWAYS end up with too many students, and a cluster of portables here will not look pretty.
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I'd like to see more downtown locations for schools. Locate them in an optimal way so every kid is a short walk from school. It seems like an easy thing for the City to require of developers. The 1 Yonge proposal seems like an ideal opportunity to force them to build a large school. Same with the LCBO lands. And the Well. Wellesley on the Park could have included a school with room for a playground instead of the park component.
 
Waterloo_Guy said:
I'd like to see more downtown locations for schools. Locate them in an optimal way so every kid is a short walk from school. It seems like an easy thing for the City to require of developers. The 1 Yonge proposal seems like an ideal opportunity to force them to build a large school. Same with the LCBO lands. And the Well. Wellesley on the Park could have included a school with room for a playground instead of the park component.
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Downtown schools are under-enrolled and the TDSB has a multi-billion backlog of repairs. Even though population is rising downtown, the number of kids is dropping. To need more schools, we'd need to have more and more affordable 3+ bedroom units down town.
 
Tender Call is up:

Tender
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Call number: 1-2017
Commodity: Construction Services, Construction Services
Description: Block 31, Mixed use building, Construction
FOR: the supply of all materials, equipment, labour and supervision necessary for the construction of the new Block 31 Community Centre/ Child Care Centre/ 2 Elementary Schools (TDSB & TCDSB)

Questions about this Tender should be directed in writing to Mike Voelker, CSCMP. at e-mail mvoelke@toronto.ca. For more information, please refer to Section 2.3 Deadline for Questions. The last day for questions with respect to this tender is four (4) working days prior to closing.
Issue date: February 1, 2017
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Closing date: February 28, 2017
at 12:00 Noon
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Pre-bid meeting: Interested bidders are invited to attend an optional site meeting to ascertain the work involved. The optional site meeting will be held at 20 Brunel Court on February 8, 2017 commencing at 11:00 am.

Bidders will meet at the intersection of Fort York Blvd. and Brunel Court. Site meetings will not be available at any other times.

Firms submitting bids without attending the site meeting do so at their own risk.

A record of questions and answers as deemed relevant from the site meeting will be distributed in the form of an addendum to all potential bidders.

Only bids from pre-qualified Bidders will be accepted for this Tender Call. The Bidders which qualified under the Request for Pre-Qualification (RTP) No. 3907-16-5005 are:

EllisDon Corporation

Eastern Construction Company Limited

The Atlas Corporation/ Buttcon Limited (JV)
 
UrbanFervour said:
Downtown schools are under-enrolled and the TDSB has a multi-billion backlog of repairs. Even though population is rising downtown, the number of kids is dropping. To need more schools, we'd need to have more and more affordable 3+ bedroom units down town.
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On average the TDSB has has a 1.3% drop per year for the past 15 years. And that includes the spike for the kindergarten and drop for grade 13...I assume they balance each other out. This means that we need to be closing 5.8 schools a year (out of a total of 450) PLUS the backlog of schools that are already sitting 1/2 empty.

In the same time we have seen a spike in the cost of education. In per student terms it use to cost us $7400 per student for teaching and now it costs us $12400 per student. An increase of 4.5% per year. "slightly" above inflation.

With that increase in funding we should expect the best facilities. We don't get them. We should expect the best student results. We fail to deliver and are getting worse compared to other countries.

So what are the main reasons? ...we're paying $95,000 per teacher for wages (average per the TDSB website) and all the overhead people at their ivory tower. The province cares about teachers salaries more than the students quality of education
 
That looks fine, but I still wish we could have been a bit more forward thinking for this site, with schools in the base of buildings. I'll admit this is partly out of spite for those in West One and the other tower whose name escapes me, who live in tall towers, but wish not to be next to other tall towers.
 
I actually think it's smart not to limit oneself to the podium of a tall, privately owned building. Cityplace is proving that 3 bedroom units are a luxury and not a necessity when it comes to raising small children. This school may need future expansions.
 
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