NORWALK, Conn. — A new era began Thursday at the South Norwalk Community Center, Board of Directors Chairman Warren Peña said, celebrating the recently completed renovations and the expected Monday opening of the long-awaited District 99 after-school program.
The thought was echoed by others at the open house, attended by some of the Norwalk leaders who made the renovations come about by authorizing $200,000 in Community Block Development Grant (CDBG) funds, community members and teachers, one of whom performed a dance. Visitors taking a tour learned each of the three new classrooms has its own bathroom attached to it, so the kids on their way to the potty will not have to mingle with adults using the Community Center.
“I think it’s beautiful. I barely recognize the place – it’s gorgeous,” Board of Education member Sherelle Harris said. “They’ve done a great job with it and hopefully the program will be equally as great.”
Of the 115 children who signed up for the SoNoCC After the Bell program, a brainchild of former Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Manny Rivera, 62 were admitted through a lottery. Part of Peña’s work for the event was to show Redevelopment Agency officials around the place, highlighting the idea that some of the unrenovated space at the front of the building could be turned into another classroom for 30 children if the Common Council approves $80,000 in CDBG funding this year.
The $80,000 would also make a new reception area, separate entirely from the classroom area.
There is some question that the After the Bell program will be funded next year because the state has recently said it is ineligible for the Title I funding on which Rivera was depending.
“That was in the works for a long period of time and then it got stopped,” Norwalk Interim Superintendent of Schools James Connelly said Friday. “We are committed to do it next year. It’s going to take some creative budgeting and my thing is to develop it in such a way we are eligible for more federal money, Title I money.”
Conversations have already been had with the state about how to do that and the goal is to have it all set before a new superintendent comes in, Connelly said.
“I am very optimistic. We take one step at a time every day. We’ve got to look at all possible avenues to keep this program moving forward,” said Tricia Massucco, who runs After the Bell for the school system.
There are more than 500 children in District 99, a part of South Norwalk with no home school for the kids to think of as a neighborhood base.
“This is going to make a big difference in their lives,” Massucco said. “I look at all the people that we still have on a wait list moving forward; because we do have a number of fifth-graders, the slots will open up in the program. But we’re very excited. This is something that I have wanted for such a long time, and when Manny came on he saw a vision in this as well. I’m just glad that we, although starting later than planned, we’re just excited that we can get it open this year.”
SoNoCC Executive Director Kelly Robertson recently tried unsuccessfully to get city funding for enrichment programs, which would have included dance. The open house featured a performance by Tiffany Wilson, one of two After the Bell teachers who also dance.
The work on the center is “awesome,” Wilson said, calling what is going on now a big change from what went on when Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON) was the dominant force in the building.
“Honestly, I’m not going to say I’m a Norwalk native but I’ve lived here a very long time and this is NEON,” Wilson said. “I used to try to get programs running here, it didn’t work. I’m glad that (Robertson) is here and she is fighting because we need a community of people that are going to be genuine to children and really love them, and do as much as they can do for them. So I am honored that I can be a part of the staff.”
“Someone said ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’” the Rev. Oscar Destruge, a SoNoCC board member, said in his opening prayer. “As we lament and pray over the situation in Baltimore, I can’t get out of my mind a Baltimore mother’s tears and plea: ‘Our kids have nothing to do. Give us a community center. Help us to keep them out of trouble.’
“That is the vision you’ve given those who established this center many years ago, and the vision continues to shine,” Destruge continued. “At some point it appeared that the center had seen its last days. But through the leadership, commitment and support from our chairman, Warren Peña, its current board members, the City Council, and individuals who gave generously of their time, money and talents, we are here this afternoon to rededicate this building and its programs to create a learning environment in South Norwalk, to help kids of all races and backgrounds to stay out of trouble and excel in their education.”
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