Sumner's school

I really love Sumner's school. I wrote a description of it for a paper and just wanted to share it. While it is rather academic (I wrote it for a class), I thought it may be of interest.

If you drive along American Legion Highway towards Franklin Park and Boston, one of the first landmarks will notice is a low-end strip mall. The mall includes a McDonalds and a Dunkin Donuts, dollar stores and a discount clothing store, a Save-a-Lot grocery, and a no-frills fish market that also sells fried fish. Down and across the street a bit is a church that does not look like a church, but a large garage or warehouse. There are several plant nurseries across the street from the mall. Along this four-lane highway with a green neutral ground dividing traffic, across from the church you will find the Haley School. There is a new red, white, and black mural that wraps around the corner of the school, which depicts birds and plants that are native to this area. The new playground is near the school and sits next to a basketball court and a small soccer field. On the far end of the school grounds is a wetland that the students observe for science education.

To enter the school, you must buzz an intercom and within moments the door buzzes open. While you wait for the buzz, you will check out the bird houses and rain measurement behind you. As you enter the school you are greeted by four or five aquariums, with everything from turtles to a Madagascar hissing cockroach to komodo dragons in them, and a digital weather system. To the left is a table labeled “Parent Information” with flyers about Haley and wider community events and opportunities. The Main Office is straight ahead and everyone who walks in the front door will receive a warm welcome from Mrs. Turner, the school secretary. In the office you may hear crickets chirping waiting to be eaten by the lizards under the heat lamp in the lobby.