Residents offer thoughts on school project priorities and goals

The School Building Committee has released a summary of the hopes and priorities for the school building project expressed by residents at the committee’s kickoff meeting on June 14.

About 40 residents at the meeting answered a series of four questions during a participation activity after the SBC outlined its timeline and asked for community input. Since then, the committee has also received more than 250 responses to an online survey on “Shaping Our Town’s Evaluation Criteria,” which is open until July 15. The video of the meeting (minus the activity session) is here.

The questions and most frequent answer are below.

Question 1: The Lincoln School is important to the community because…

1. it is the heart of the community
2. education is a core value
3. the physical campus is an important meeting place for both young families and older adults
4. it generates civic pride
5. it educates our future leaders
6. education is the foundation of the community and central to the quality of life

Question 2: I would like the opportunity to…

1. improve the educational environment
2. have an environmental sustainability in building
3. see the total town coming together to make a decision
4. have significant input at several points along the way
5. understand decisions; understand how input is handled
6. to get all school information to all Lincoln citizens at all times

Question 3: When developing the design of the Lincoln School, the primary focus should be on…

1. a welcoming, comfortable, safe atmosphere. Affirm student, faculty, and community dignity through use of materials, natural light, textures, color, etc.
2. flexible space in support of student and faculty experience
3. a structure that encourages community and collaboration
4. design—effectiveness for variety of needs at acceptable cost
5. educational program augmented by well-designed spaces which promote Lincoln’s values of community, conservation, and history
6. integrating the building into the greater campus (roads, sidewalks, fields, etc.)

Question 4: I hope that the School Building Committee will consider ….

1. the educational mission that Becky McFall has been sharing regarding 21st-century learning spaces
2. making sustainability a top priority from the get-go
3. a building that supports the progression of grades and makes sure all kids have access to the outdoors
4. practicality—”do not let perfection be the devil of getting it done”
5. really listen to the input from the town and all the past work that has been done
6. having the project design led by energy efficiency

To obtain the full set of responses, email sbc@lincnet.org.

The next SBC meeting is Wednesday, July 12 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room. The agenda will be posted here.