Thursday, May 23, 2013
Several hundred more students are expected over the next few years in Braintree.
School officials are intent on addressing the space crunch in Braintree schools, at least in part, by September 2014. Superintendent Dr. Peter Kurzberg said this week that discussions are ongoing in the School Building Committee over how to add classroom space by then. Committee members are focusing on utilizing existing classrooms at the former schools Monatiquot, Foster and Eldridge. The School Committee tasked the building committee in February with examining both short- and long-term space needs solutions after last year receiving a report on long-lasting but costly fixes such as new construction, and this past winter wrestling with the option of adding permanent modular classrooms to each of Braintree's six elementary schools. In the …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
An architect presented options for modular and permanent additions Monday.
The potential addition of 24 classrooms to Braintree's elementary schools may not materialize until the 2014-2015 school year, allowing time for a decision on modular or permanent structures and for the state's input on funding. School Committee members voted Monday night to move their space needs discussion to the School Building Committee, consisting of school and town officials and community representatives. The shift means that a detailed plan can be finalized, though it also means additional classrooms space will likely not be available next fall as proposed earlier this year. Architect Steve Habeeb, whose firm created last year's study of new schools, additions and upgrades, laid out three options for the committee. For each, the …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Included in the space needs discussion is the high demand for full-day kindergarten in Braintree.
School Committee members voted unanimously Monday night to request more detailed proposals on both regular and modular classroom additions to Braintree's elementary schools. Department officials will provide the committee plans that show design specifications and costs for construction that could help alleviate some of the district's space problems. The committee will likely decide on an option by March 1, said Mayor Joseph Sullivan, who proposed that the town might be able to sell Eldridge to Montessori and put the proceeds toward expansion costs. "We have to do our due diligence and homework," Committee Chair Shannon Hume said. "We have to do what's right for now and the future." With funding at a premium – preliminary budget requests by…
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Braintree may soon install 24 more modular classrooms to help address space needs.
The School Committee does not have a hard deadline for voting on a space needs proposal that could add 24 modular classrooms to Braintree's six elementary schools, committee chair Shannon Hume said this week. Originally Hume said she thought the committee needed to take a vote to address space needs by its Jan. 28 meeting, but if members need more time to learn about the modular proposal and those involving Monatiquot School, they can vote in February and still have a solution in place by next fall. "We’re not going to rush a vote because we have to meet a deadline," Hume said. "We’re going to do what’s best for the school district. This is a big decision.” It is possible a vote could happen on the 28th, but only if committee members are …
Monday, January 14, 2013
Later this month the Braintree School Committee plans to vote on a proposal to add more space for younger students by next fall.
For years, Tony Fama has taught foreign language to eighth grade students in a modular classroom, separated from the rest of South Middle School by a pre-fabricated corridor and a set of double doors. Fama’s classroom, identical to the space where his colleague Jim Joyce teaches Social Studies next door, is lined with posters, student assignments and other decorations that spill out into the corridor. The ability to easily tack items to the walls – the inside material is essentially cork board – is one of the design features that set the modular rooms apart from regular classrooms. “I love it,” Fama said. Braintree may soon install 24 more modular classrooms, augmenting the two each at South and Highlands Elementary, depending on a vote …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The School Committee plans to vote on a short-term fix for space needs by the end of January.
Schools officials say they are inclined to build 24 modular classrooms at the elementary level, a temporary solution for Braintree's space issues that could eliminate the possibility of re-districting and may prove more feasible than opening a kindergarten center. Superintendent Dr. Peter Kurzberg laid out several options to moderate class sizes and free up room for expected enrollment increases during the Monday night School Committee meeting. Each possibility has its drawbacks, but Dr. Kurzberg said he prefers the addition of four modular classes at each of Braintree's six elementary schools. Unlike re-opening the Monatiquot School, building the temporary space would rely mostly on capital expenditures and may be partially funded by the …
What do you think about the proposed solutions? Comment below.
Superintendent Dr. Peter Kurzberg laid out several options for School Committee members Monday night that would address space needs by next fall. A study presented last summer by architectural firm Habeeb & Associates Architects, Inc. determined that short-term solutions could cost Braintree between $21 million and $36 million, and long-term between $66 million and $123 million. The study did not include the options presented Monday, but rather focused on permanent additions to buildings, new schools and/or other upgrades. Below are summaries of the newest proposals. For more on the discussion, go to http://braintree.patch.com/articles/committee-pondering-fix-for-school-space-crunch-that-may-increase-fdk-offerings. Closed along with Foster…
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Habeeb & Associates Architects, Inc. prepared a preliminary space needs review for the Braintree School Committee.
To keep up with a surge in enrollment over the past decade and an even higher projected student population in the next, Braintree officials have kick-started a long-term construction plan by examining space needs and possible solutions at the K-5 school level. The options presented on Monday night to the School Committee as part of a preliminary architectural review range from the unlikely, such as activating Eldridge, Monatiquot and Foster in their current conditions, to more favorable long-term approaches like additions and upgrades to all current elementary schools. "People are meeting in closets and store rooms," said Steven Habeeb of Norwell-based Habeeb & Associates Architects, Inc. "I attended two of the six schools 45 years ago and…
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Matt
11:57 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Why not just reopen Eldridge and send kids there and save some money? Does anyone know what they are doing or are they just guessing? And why would hire an architectural firm to figure all this out? I think state engineers should have been brought in. more ›