Architect outlines multimillion-dollar options to rebuild Walden Elementary

Tom Ritzenthaler, executive principal at CS Arch, presented a supplemental update to the Walden feasibility study to the Valley Central School District Board of Education on March 10, 2025, laying out options and cost estimates to convert Maybrook into a K–5 school, reorganize elementary grades across the district, build an annex at Berea Elementary and temporarily relocate Walden students during construction.

The presentation matters because each option carries different impacts on student assignment, facility upgrades, accessibility and the district capital budget: Ritzenthaler estimated the Maybrook conversion at about $9.4 million, a district reorganization option at about $47.5 million (Maybrook plus recommended Walden upgrades), and a Berea annex at about $26.4 million; temporary relocation options had lower, short‑term cost estimates but left several operational questions open.

Ritzenthaler opened by describing a proposal to reestablish the district’s alternative learning center at Maybrook as a kindergarten through fifth‑grade building. He said the K–5 program would require space for 227 students, 11–12 general‑education classrooms (about two sections per grade), two special‑education classrooms, and specialty instructional spaces including music, band, art, STEAM, and student support services, plus PE, cafeteria and a library/media center. He noted exceptions: one kindergarten classroom, five general‑education classrooms and two special‑education classrooms would be below the state education department’s minimum space standards; the building lacks a dedicated art classroom (requiring art on a cart); and the cafeteria is nearly half the square footage of other…