Excitement is building for the first 250 students to walk through the doors and fill the classrooms of the new STEAM school in downtown Syracuse this fall. Crews are working feverishly to make sure the long-vacant former Central Technical High School is ready.
Local leaders and the media got a rare glimpse inside the 125 year old building being transformed to meet today’s standards with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Mayor Ben Walsh was among those on the tour.
"This is the main science classroom, the prep room in here, which presumably serves both classrooms..."
Cabinets line the walls of the large adjoining rooms. Sturdy vinyl flooring is already in place, and ceilings are underway. New windows facing Adams Street allow for abundant natural light.
The initial cohort of students will use the first two floors while crews continue working on the rest of the building. Syracuse Schools Superintendent Anthony Davis said 80 percent of the first student body is from the city. He said interest from the suburbs will grow.
“I think it's just a leap of faith at this point, not knowing what it's going to be or what it's going to look like," Davis said. "The students will sell the programs. Once you start to see the success and see what happens here. I have no doubt that it's going to grow quickly.”
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon agreed.
“I think people want to see how it goes first, and it's never been done before either," McMahon said. "If you're a kid in the Cicero-North Syracuse School District, you just go to CNS. Liverpool, you go to Liverpool. So this is a little bit different.”
And, he says, become a model for others across the state. The goal is a 60/40 ratio of city to suburban students. Davis says one thousand students will eventually fill the building, as they add 250 each of the next three years. This year’s students are the first to occupy the building since the last Central Tech students graduated 50 years ago.
