© 2024 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace
Buffalo, NY 14202

Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
WBFO Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Your NPR Station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Buffalo School Board to decide whether daVinci HS should move from D'Youville University campus

PS 212 Leonardo daVinci High School (right) on the D'Youville University campus.
Google Maps
PS 212 Leonardo daVinci High School (building on the right) is on the D'Youville University campus.

Buffalo's School Board will decide Wednesday evening whether to move award-winning daVinci High School from the campus of D'Youville University to the Buffalo State College campus.

There has been some dissatisfaction on the board about D'Youville's treatment of daVinci, including recent discussion in a board meeting about the temperature inside the space leased for daVinci. Board President Lou Petrucci said the board is also looking for a wider college program than D'Youville, with its heavy emphasis on health programs.

"They've other programs as well, but that's what they're known for. And Buff State tends to have a more robust college catalog that has a variety of different options for our students, if they want to take any one of the courses offered there," Petrucci said. "While they are both in good locations, Buff State is adjacent to Elmwood Avenue, the Museum District and Delaware Park."

At one time, Buffalo Public Schools had a school on the Buffalo State campus, called Campus West. In turn, that was the successor to the old Campus School on the Buff State grounds. The college won't talk about the discussion planned for this evening and daVinci didn't return a phone call for comment.

Petrucci said the move will offer advantages to the students.

"We're always looking for options," he said. "We've been happy with DaVinci over at D'Youville. The school has accomplished many great things, but there's also an opportunity for growth and that's one of the things that we're exploring is: Is there a better campus at this point that would meet the needs of the student population? And there very well may be."

He said if the board votes for the move this evening, it will then start discussions about how it will work and where daVinci would be located on the Buff State campus.

daVinci has accumulated a sterling academic reputation, shown by a very high graduation rate among its 400 students. Petrucci said a number of students travel there, on the city's West Side, from his Park District in South Buffalo.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.