A historic Hamilton school is reborn as much more

The new Miami School center is the first, centralized student registration facility in Hamilton Schools’ modern history but also much more.

The building, which had been a senior citizen center since 1957 until the school district purchased it in January, also provides classrooms for 65 high school students in blended learning, incorporating computer-based curricula with traditional instruction.

Prior to the Miami School’s opening in August, new families moving into the Hamilton school system had to find out where their neighborhood school was and register their children there.

“Now this is a one-stop shop for student registration,” said Joni Copas, spokeswoman for the 10,000-student district.

“They can come to one location, get their bus schedules and any kind of special services they need,” including on-site, bilingual translation for non-English speaking families, said Copas.

Larry Knapp, business director for Hamilton Schools, said the district bought the building for $600,000 and invested an additional $1.2 million to upgrade the facility to meet Ohio school building standards.

It wasn’t easy but compared to building a new registration center, it was a cost efficient, said Knapp.

“A new building at this size … would cost close to $6 (million) to $7 million, so it’s a bargain,” he said. “And it serves two purposes for us as a central registration office and a blended learning school.”

Michael Wright, director of student services for the district, has an office in one of the converted classrooms of the former school. He appreciates the history and re-birth of the old school.

“This building is part of Hamilton’s past and now it’s going to be part of Hamilton’s future. This is a great opportunity for the families in our community because we’ve developed the one-stop shop where families can come and register their students and get all the information they need about the district,” said Wright.

Hamilton school officials are inviting the public to tour the refurbished center at 140 Ross Ave. on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The Miami School open house will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and refreshments will be provided.