Building a school is a long and complicated process. At the same time, it’s an incredibly exciting one—we get to imagine what the future can look like for our students, and work together to create an environment where all learners thrive and our community’s values are embedded in the building itself.  

In this monthly newsletter we'll share:

• progress updates
• highlights from the design process
• opportunities to get involved
• and more

If you have any questions about any of this, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at newschool@somervillema.gov. 

Community Forum and Other Engagement

Last week Mayor Wilson, Superintendent Carmona, and the City’s project team hosted a community forum with architects Perkins Eastman to highlight ongoing work and share updates on the path forward. The forum also provided an opportunity to hear feedback from community members about plans for the project.

Watch a recording of the forum and check out the presentation here.

Scenes from this month's community forum: project architects from Perkins Eastman present (left) and residents discuss transportation priorities with the City and project staff.

Perkins Eastman highlighted both early-stage design options and the work ongoing to ensure the building reflects the community's priorities—such as making a big school feel small and providing dedicated spaces for neuro-diverse learning as well as community uses and quality outdoor play and learning areas.

115 Sycamore Site Walks

The team has also hosted site walks with members of the community to hear perspectives on priorities for the project and better understand how people use the 115 Sycamore Street site. 

Residents gather at 115 Sycamore Street to discuss outdoor space and more.

These walks drew wide-ranging perspectives on outdoor play space, community gardens, and more. The input gathered will help inform the design team’s efforts moving forward.

Updates on the MSBA Funding Process

The City’s project team is preparing the first of two submissions required as part of the current phase of the state’s process. This phase is called the feasibility study.  

Later this month, the team plans to submit the Preliminary Design Program (PDP) which, among other items, outlines Somerville Public School’s (SPS) educational programming requirements for the new building.

The second submission, the Preferred Schematic Report (PSR) is scheduled for submission before the end of August and includes an analysis of the City’s preferred option for the new school building (as well as analyses of other non-preferred options that were considered). At the PSR stage of the process, the City needs to formally convey its preferred option (including whether we will pursue a design suited for 925 seats or for 690 seats) for the building project to the state.

Examples of spaces and elements incorporating Universal Design from Perkins Eastman's presentation at this month's community forum.

At last week's forum project architects Perkins Eastman highlighted examples of how Universal Design principles can be incorporated throughout a school environment by providing steady predictable environments, supporting sensory regulation, and more.

Watch the presentation to learn more about what it means to employ universal design within a school environment.