It's April and there is a lot of work happening to deliver a new school building for Somerville's students. 

As the project moves forward, this newsletter will share progress updates as we move through the state's funding process. We'll also share additional opportunities for community members to weigh in and share their perspective--like this upcoming Monday's (4/13) sustainability-focused workshop (more on that below).

This month's newsletter:

• MSBA Process Update - Preliminary Design Program Submission
• Upcoming Opportunities to Get Involved
• Zoom-in: Making a Big School Feel Small  

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

Preliminary Design Program Submitted on April 7

Earlier this week we took a step forward in the state's funding process. The City submitted the Preliminary Design Program (PDP), which outlines Somerville Public School’s educational programming requirements and includes a preliminary evaluation of options for the new building. 

As part of its review of the PDP, the School Building Committee voted to advance the study of only the options suited for 925 students during the next phase of the process, the Preferred Schematic Report. They noted “that they prefer to pursue the higher enrollment of 925 student as a more feasible approach to addressing school, community and city needs.” The School Building Committee also voted to eliminate options using Trum Field, consistent with the feedback received from the community. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will evaluate these preferences as part of its PDP review.  

The City’s project team will incorporate MSBA feedback as it continues its analysis of the remaining options before formally conveying a single, preferred option to the state as part of the PSR submission scheduled for late August.  

Sustainability Community Design Workshop - April 13

Join a collaborative workshop focused on sustainability on Monday, April 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the East Somerville Community School.  

Project architects, Perkins Eastman, along with City staff, will share school project goals as well as opportunities to incorporate the City’s climate goals into the design.  

Community members will then be invited to discuss and provide their perspectives and ideas.  

Examples of topics covered will include energy-efficiency, outdoor play and gardens, healthy learning spaces, how building materials impact carbon emissions, and more. No familiarity or prior experience with these topics is needed to participate.  

The feedback gathered will be used by the City’s project team and architects to help inform design work moving forward.

Design Workshop #2 Focus on Community Programs - May 11

Join a second collaborative workshop this time focused on space for community programming within the school on Monday, May 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Tufts Administration Building (167 Holland Street).  


More info to come.

These experiences or “clusters” will be independent wings or floors within the school, connected by shared and common spaces such as the cafetorium, health and wellness facilities, and specialist spaces for art, technology, and other disciplines. Each cluster will have its own dedicated space of administrative and support services.  


This approach enables us to retain a smaller-school feel and age-specific spaces for students while retaining the benefits of scale and flexibility a larger building provides the school district.  

Diagram of "Clusters" Approach from Perkins Eastman's presentation to School Committee last month.

Within each cluster, classrooms will be organized into grade-level “neighborhoods,” integrating purpose-built special education spaces and break-out spaces for 1:1 services. Classrooms would be organized around a centralized, developmentally appropriate collaborative space.  

As we move forward, the design team will work to reflect the approach diagrammed above in the building's layout.