Talk:Brunswick (Brittonkill) Central School District/Archive 1

Archive 1

Brittonkill/Brunswick

I disagree with the assertion that the official name is Brunswick Central and not Brittonkill Central and neither of the two sources cited are convincing. How can one argue with the seal, the sign out front of the school and the words on the buses. Can we have definitive answers from the Education Department of the state of New York or from the school administration? I hope to get a hold of someone from both places soon and post their reply. I figure these two are the most definitive and authoritative sources instead of some local historian who wrote a book. Camelbinky (talk) 00:53, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

• The State of New York refers to the district as Brunswick Central School District (Brittonkill). "Brittonkill" has stayed popular due to its home-grown roots and there's nothing saying the district can't unofficially refer to itself as its previous name. I'm unsure if Brittonkill was ever official - but I'd really like to know. While it does refer to itself in many ways as Brittonkill (e.g. one of the two signs out front, buses, group names, etc), the State recognizes it only as Brunswick (Brittonkill). I think the NCES Report and NYS School Report Card are proof enough (in addition to the fact that school closing reports say Brunswick (Brittonkill) - I was unsure how to reference that one though!). It was not meant for the Zankel book to be used as a reference for that (in fact her book refers to the school incorrectly, even calling the high school Brittonkill High School - ick). I've added the NCES Report and State Report Card as references directly after the statement. As a side note, the buses say "Brittonkill Central Schools," which is in no way close to an official name no matter how you look at it. upstateNYer 03:37, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank you UpstateNYer that helped a great deal. You were polite, informative, and very helpful! Hope to work on articles with you some day.Camelbinky (talk) 10:15, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Glad to help. upstateNYer 05:40, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I have another naming question and two other questions; first- if I read the article right the high school seems to be called Tamarac Secondary School; is this common across New York or the Capital District, it seems like an archaic naming scheme (Secondary as opposed to High), if it is an old-time hold over and is not common anymore is there any info on how rare it is, perhaps this is something of notability for the Brunswick Central School District (hope I got the official name right this time!). Second- does the school district own the soccer fields that are at the corner of routes 2 and 231 (Farm-to-Market Road), next to the strip mall, if not does the school use them at all, if not just out of curiousity who does own/use them? Third- the school buildings are very close to two hamlets in the town of Brunswick, Clums Corner(or Corners? not sure on that) and Cropseyville, since hamlets dont normally have defined boundaries are the buildings considered by locals to be in one or the other or neither? My questions are trivial and just because I'm a curious sort of person, take time answering.Camelbinky (talk) 06:12, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

The "Secondary School" title came around in about 2003, for what reason, I cannot remember. It was always known as Tamarac High & Middle School until then (and still is in common language). The Town of Brunswick owns the soccer fields you refer to (it's actually the corner of Rtes. 2 and 351); I'm unsure on the usage. I can't remember if the town has soccer teams. I don't think so, so it must be the school teams using the fields. The corner of Rtes. 2 and 278 is literally Clum's Corner, hence the hamlet name. Cropseyville is located a bit east of the school. We always referred to it as Clum's Corners but Wiki seems to think it's Clum's Corner. But it's been considered to be located in the hamlet of Clum's Corners, not Cropseyville (even though the post office across the street says Cropseyville... who knew?). upstateNYer 06:33, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! I had a feeling I had the route number wrong but kinda figured you'd know what I meant and it sounded better than "that road to Poestenkill that goes by the big white church". Thanks for the info and I'll see if I cant find some sources for Clum's Corners versus Corner and fix that for you. Though I do believe there are hamlet signs, if you drive by one and it does say cornerS take a photo. No other source would be better than that. But I've already distracted you from better use of your time. Until my next trivial question- Remember Fort Orange!Camelbinky (talk) 07:01, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

WPSchools assessment (Dec. 9, 2008)

Because this is a second assessment, I will try to do an informal peer review. Also remember that I'm just a member of the WikiProject Schools assessment team, so you may choose to disregard everything I write.

Lead

Expand the lead to have two paragraphs. Generally, significant sections in the article should at least have a mention in the lead because the lead is designed to both introduce and summarize the entire article . For instance, the lead doesn't mention that the district was created upon the consolidation (centralization) of local schools in 1956.

 Done upstateNYer 00:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

History

I like how the history has been expanded to include true historical background, but I'm not certain on the referencing. Was all of that information found in the "Photographic Files", particularly the coordinates? Because the coordinates aren't references, I've changed the heading from "References" to "Notes and references." Any information that isn't referenced like the Lincoln School NRHP should be removed or referenced before you take the article to a good article review.

 Doing... - The NRHP only happened recently, and apparently was not covered in the local papers. Have to wait to hear official word from NRHP, or update on their website. upstateNYer 00:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

 Done - The coordinates are based on the locations given in the photographic files. I looked for those places on Google Maps and pinned them from that. Granted I already knew a bunch of the places to begin with. Once I find out if they are public domain, I will post them on WikiSource and anyone can read the documents I refer to. upstateNYer 00:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Board of Education

If Darren Galipeau first started serving in 2008, I think we can assume he was first elected in 2007 and remove the fact tag (there is a brief mention at [1], but I don't know if that's the same thing). Likewise, if Kathleen McGrath started serving in 1979 (a reliable reference is at [2]), then reference that year.

 Done - Thanks for those refs! upstateNYer 19:10, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Schools

I think the bell schedule might be too much information. Although it would be relevant on a webpage of the school district, it probably isn't material that would be found in an encyclopedic article about the district. (see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Schools/Article_guidelines#What_not_to_include). Note Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District, which focuses more on the student composition of the district and its programs. I might cut out a lot of the bell schedule and create a "Student body" section instead.

 Done - Thanks for the reference to "What not to include" upstateNYer 19:10, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

 Done - Student Body Section: Added lots of data from one of the state report cards. upstateNYer 00:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Athletics and Student organizations

Similar to last time, these two sections could use more prose. An introductory paragraph on the athletics program would be nice. Personally, if the list form is the best way to present the information, it's fine to leave those sections the way they are, but the information about recent performance appears to be information of mostly short-term interest.

Student Orgs - This will have to be done by somebody who knows the school currently. No verifiable source would actually report on something so non-news worthy. Only time will tell. upstateNYer 00:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Athetics  Doing... - I admittedly do not really follow the athletics very closely, so this will take some time. upstateNYer 00:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Alma mater

Should be removed unless it is clearly public domain. Many alma maters may be the copyright of the district/school in question. Unless the alma mater was first published before 1923, we remove them. If the text was published before 1923, make sure to write and reference the publication date.

 Doing... - Will check on that one... upstateNYer 19:10, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

2007 Capital project

The capital project still contains a great deal of detail and I think it could be trimmed.

 Done upstateNYer 06:08, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Overall

Due to the structure and relatively good referencing, I am promoting the article to B-class. Note, however, that every single sentence and number has to be referenced for GA-status. Consider trimming some areas of content and adding more information about the students this district serves. I also recommend a true WP:Peer Review and close examination of the good article criteria before trying a WP:GAN. Good luck, --Jh12 (talk) 14:35, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Your new map-

Proves I correctly identified the school as the Horace Mann/White Church school, since its the only school within the District number 3 area. I feel so much better now! Great find btw!Camelbinky (talk) 01:46, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

The Troy Public Library had no problem with me coming in with my scanner to scan from that atlas from 1876, however it was a real pain to scan because I had to do it in like 6 parts; very time consuming. I wish Google would scan that book for us (but at high-res)! upstateNYer 06:06, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

I wonder if there's some place on Google books to make requests of books they should get...Camelbinky (talk) 17:53, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Anytime you cant find something on Google books or if Google books lists it but with limited preview or no preview, check [3] I've found things like Masten's History of Cohoes there that Google books didnt have.Camelbinky (talk) 21:59, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Sounds good, thanks. upstateNYer 22:24, 24 January 2010 (UTC)