For over four years the
community and School Committee have discussed the need for additional space at
Needham High School to accommodate increasing enrollment there. An earlier blog post provided context about space needs: Needham High School Space Needs 2015
The school, which was
designed to accommodate the 1,450 students anticipated at that time, opened in
2008-09 almost at capacity, and the enrollment has grown steadily since then.
Currently there are 1,659 students at NHS, and we project an enrollment of over
1,800 in a few years—far exceeding the capacity of the school and stressing
student program needs. Based on a Comprehensive Demographic Study of state and local trends, we project enrollment to
decline slightly after the 2025-26 school year and then to remain around 1,760
students in grades 9-12.
Community and Board
members, Town Meeting, and the high school administration have been quite
responsive to the space needs and challenges at Needham High:
• Creative scheduling options and the expansion
of off campus lunch for older students have provided some relief.
• Interior spaces, including offices, storage
areas and closets, have been repurposed and remodeled to accommodate the
school’s students and programs.
• Increased use of one to one technology tools
(e.g., laptops) and carving out small student study spaces and cubbies in the
hallways has facilitated student learning needs.
• Last summer the cafeteria was expanded to
meet lunch and school program needs.
• This year a comprehensive classroom space
needs feasibility study has been undertaken, and the School Committee and
Permanent Public Building Committee (PPBC) recently endorsed a classroom
expansion option that will meet the need for classroom space.
The Town is also working
with the architect to meet additional infrastructure needs at NHS, including
electrical, flooring, and related needs in the gyms; replacing the chillers
required for the proper operation of the HVAC system; and identifying concerns
with the boilers and controls. The goal
of both the feasibility study and the review of infrastructure is to present to
the May 2017 Town Meeting a request for design funds to address the classroom
and infrastructure needs so that Needham High School will have appropriate and
well maintained learning spaces for our students well into the future.
The option the School
Committee and PPBC endorsed, Option F , proposes nine
academic core classrooms, additional special education classrooms, and flexible
collaboration/work space near the school’s Webster St. entrance. The estimated cost of this option is $11.4
million. (Costs for work in the gym and HVAC system are not included in this
total.) All of the options and additional information about the feasibility can
be found here: Needham High School Feasibility Presentation
It is important for
parents and the community to learn more about this project and to weigh in on
the scope and estimated costs so that Town boards can continue to collaborate
to identify appropriate funding resources to support a possible design and
construction.
What is not clear at this
point is how the proposed project would be funded. What is absolutely clear, however, is that without
additional classroom spaces at Needham High School, student programs,
opportunities, and learning will be impacted for many years to come.