The lack of space has prompted educators at the Paul Cuffee School and CVS Highlander School to temporarily halt plans to add more grades.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 26, 2006

BY KAREN A. DAVIS
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- For months, a lack of classroom space has plagued city schools -- and charter schools are no exception.

Times2 -- an 8-year-old charter school that has about 600 students in kindergarten through 12 -- expanded its building at 50 Fillmore St. The renovated campus opened last fall and the school was able to fulfill its goal of creating a K-12 campus.

However, the lack of space has prompted educators at Paul Cuffee School and CVS Highlander School to temporarily halt their plans to add more grades.

Cuffee -- a charter school that emphasizes a maritime theme -- opened in 2001, initially in rented space. The school moved to a building on Promenade Street in 2002.

Cuffee serves 382 students in kindergarten through grade 7; elementary students attend the Promenade Street building and upper grades are in leased space at a former parochial school on Barton Street.

Jonathan Conklin, the school's business manager, said Cuffee has a charter to serve kindergarten through grade 12. But with little space to grow, only an eighth grade will be added in the fall and further expansion must wait, Conklin said.

"What's really stymieing us is the location," Conklin said. "There's just no space [in the city] . . . at least, we haven't been able to find it."

Cuffee, which has a waiting list of more than 200, plans to "pause" its growth plan until a bigger space can be found.

A similar story is playing out at CVS Highlander Charter School in the North End. The school renovated and moved into a former convent on Greeley Street six years ago.

Since then, it has expanded to include 234 students in kindergarten through grade 8.

"What's happened is the original building is just too small," said Jim Donahue, head of school and executive director of the Bradford L. Dunn Institute, which provides services for people who have learning disabilities. "There's no room for a library, no room for assembly . . . we're using every inch of the building for instruction."

Because space is so tight, the school was not able to add another grade last year and does not plan to add one this fall.

Donahue said the demand for slots at local charter schools is high. Highlander reaches out to students who "learn differently" and might have struggled in traditional classrooms.

"If I had the space -- and funding in place -- we could go to 600 [students] tomorrow," Donahue said. "Space is definitely an issue, not just with us, but with other charter schools, as well."

School officials, who spent more than a year before finding space on Greeley Street seven years ago, are now looking at buildings that could be modified for "creative adaptive reuse," he said.

Donahue said the school -- which emphasizes community and public service -- was planned for the south or west sides of the city.

In recent months, CVS Highlander officials have been talking with the directors of CityArts about the possibility of renovating space in its building on Broad Street.

Donahue said a solution might come from the partnership because CityArts officials had been looking for better ways to use the 32,000-square-foot building.

He said the building would be large enough to house the school, with library and technology rooms, and art studios, during the day. Highlander emphasizes art education.

Then, in the evenings, CityArts could use the studios as classrooms for its arts programs -- creating a partnership model for other nonprofit groups and schools.

The result, Donahue said, would be a community-based facility that is open day and night for educational and enrichment programs.

Contractors for Highlander originally estimated that the renovation would cost $3.5 million, however, they now estimate the project would cost $5.5 million, Donahue said.

If the project goes as planned, school officials will launch a campaign to raise money for it later this summer.

kdavis@projo.com / (401) 277-7353