School space and school
renovations continue to top the agenda for the Needham School Committee and
administration. Even while we wrap
up a major repair project at Newman, which we began planning for right after
the new High Rock School was opened, we are looking ahead to the renovation
and/or replacement of the Hillside and Mitchell elementary schools. And it won’t be too long before we
consider what it is we need to do to modernize Pollard.
Last week architects
from Dore and Whittier shared an update with community members about their
analysis of Hillside and Mitchell and possible building options. The School
Committee and Permanent Public Building Committee commissioned the study in anticipation of submitting a request to the
Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for further study and possible
state funding of a renovation project for both schools.
The School
Committee established several conditions they asked the architects to consider
in their planning. Among them:
• Elementary school size between 400 and
500 is optimum.
• Neighborhood based schools reduce
transportation costs and build a sense of community and ownership.
• A full day Kindergarten option is
important.
• Minimize redistricting.
• Avoid costly and unreimburseable features
like temporary classrooms to house students while construction is underway.
Based on
these assumptions, the architects have suggested three ideas for further
review:
• Renovate and/or repair Hillside and
Mitchell at their present locations. This requires an expansion of each school’s footprint to meet new
MSBA, educational, and building and planning board code requirements. This option would likely involve
building a new and permanent school on the Mitchell site to accommodate
Hillside’s population while construction takes place on the Hillside campus.
After this phase of construction, Hillside students would move into their new
facility and Mitchell students would move into their newer facility while the
old Mitchell is torn down to make way for fields and additional parking. This option requires over 900 students
to be co-located on the Mitchell campus for up to two years while construction
is underway on the Hillside campus.
• Build a new Hillside Elementary
School on Cricket Field, renovate Mitchell, and repurpose the existing Hillside
campus for ball fields and possible school space.
In this
scenario, the School Committee and Park and Recreation Commission agree to
“swap” land: A new Hillside is
built on Cricket and the fields are replaced on the existing Hillside campus
after the school is torn down.
Possible school administration and/or early childhood programming might
also be planned for the site alongside the fields. In this option, students remain in their existing school
building until they can be relocated off campus to the new school at Hillside
while Mitchell is renovated. Using
the new facility as swing space is a prudent use of taxpayers’ dollars. This option does, however, place two
elementary schools (Hillside and Eliot) nearer one another, likely requiring
some redistricting.
• Build a new 6th Grade
Center on the DeFazio Field site; move Mitchell students to DeFazio while
Mitchell is renovated; move Hillside students to High Rock or Newman; move 6th
graders to DeFazio; and repurpose the Hillside campus for fields and/or
additional school programming space.
This option
takes advantage of DeFazio, which is under partial control of the School
Committee, and moves 6th graders near Pollard’s campus and ball
fields. It does require a tight
building design at DeFazio given space considerations, and it requires the
Hillside community to be redistricted.
But it does allow the Hillside campus to be used as a future school
site, school administration space, or for other community programming and
activities.
All of the
proposed options have limitations and possibilities, and each requires further
study and exploration before deciding a course of action. In fact, the School Committee will want
to share this information with the MSBA and gain their perspective and
feedback; the MSBA, in response, could even suggest a different plan. The architects continue their work,
including cost estimates and implications for these three ideas, and they will
present a final report later in June.
What is
clear is that the entire Needham community—not just Hillside and Mitchell
families—will need to work together on a practical and thoughtful renovation
plan that potentially has broad implications for all of Needham’s students and
key neighborhoods near Hillside, Mitchell, Newman, Eliot, and DeFazio and
Cricket Fields. What is equally
clear is that this is a community that thrives on collaboration and is willing
to step up to ensure a responsible plan is developed with the MSBA and meets
the needs of Needham’s students and its residents.
For
additional information about these and other options studied, please visit the
Needham Public Schools website and check out the News section: http://www.needham.k12.ma.us/
