The Harding, Taft and West elementary schools have already been opened.

The Harding, Taft and West elementary schools have already been opened.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown City Schools is ready to open the fourth school in its $202 million, 15-school rebuilding program.
Classes will start at the new Williamson Elementary School at 58 Williamson Ave. on Nov. 28, said Anthony DeNiro, assistant superintendent of school business affairs.
A dedication ceremony is tentatively set for Dec. 11, he said.
Pupils will get an early look at the building. They and their families have been invited to tour the facility Nov. 21. Kindergarten through second grade will be in the building from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., and third and fourth grades will tour from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Classroom teachers will accompany the children, and any new pupils wishing to enroll can do so that day.
DeNiro said buses will be provided to transport the children from the temporary Williamson school on Mabel Avenue.
The invitation goes out not just to current Williamson pupils but to future pupils as well, he said, noting that some children from that neighborhood have chosen to attend charter schools or other school districts and may want to come back to the new city school.
Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent, said there is a clear trend that shows pupils do come back when a new school is built. To keep them, the district has to change how it teaches and improve its academic performance. In the end, it's not the building, it's the instruction offered inside that makes the difference, she said.
Under budget
The new building has a cost estimate of $7.3 million, but DeNiro said it appears the project will come in about $300,000 below estimates.
The building boasts the latest in technology and architectural design and has five new computers in every classroom, a state-of-the-art security system, central air conditioning, and teacher telephones in every classroom.
Williamson is the fourth school to open in the rebuilding program. Harding, Taft and West elementary schools were the first, with a combined cost of about $28.4 million.
Six other buildings are in various stages of work: East and Chaney high schools, Berry Middle School and North, Bunn and Kirkmere elementary schools.
Work hasn't started yet on Wilson High School, Volney Rogers Middle School, Choffin Career & amp; Technical Center, Rayen High School or Haddow Elementary.
The new Rayen and Wilson buildings will be middle schools, leaving the district with only two high schools: East and Chaney.
gwin@vindy.com