The School Building Committee (SBC) and school project design team will hold a series of meetings this week with residents and students as they continue to answer the question: How will the building support our vision of education?
Lincoln School administrators and faculty discussed the town’s educational priorities during a day-long session facilitated by the design team from SMMA and EwingCole:
- Provide high quality education
- Create an engaging and inspiring approach to learning
- Encourage interactive, multi-disciplinary, project-based learning modes; foster curiosity
- Value diversity; display creativity
- Provide a variety of learning spaces
- Value reflection
- Optimize connection to the natural environment
- Host community events and promote partnerships with the community
These priorities reflect those laid out in the Lincoln Public Schools strategic plan approved by the School Committee in August 2017.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, residents are invited to community workshops focused on how physical space impacts teachers and students. The workshops will take place from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. in the Brooks gym. Questions to be discussed will include:
- How does our current building impede our educators?
- If a new building is built, or significant renovations made, how will it affect what is taught and how it is taught?
- How do we know our new/renovated building will meet the needs of the next generations of Lincoln students?
Also on Tuesday, members of the design team will meet with student groups from grades 3, 5, and 8 to talk about what they like about the Lincoln School building, see examples of other schools, and discuss what they’d like to see in a new/renovated school.
In discussions about the school, phrases such as “21st century learning,” “project-based learning,” and “maker spaces” are used a lot. The SBC offers some short videos to help make these concepts clearer, and invite residents to bring questions about them to one of the Tuesday workshops:
- Video: “Changing the Subject“
- Video: “Student Engagement: How the Maker Movement Connects Students to Engineering and Tech”
- Blog: “Designing a School Makerspace”
- Video: “Engaging Students in Work that Matters”
- Video: “An Unfamiliar Revolution in Learning/Mission Hill K-8”
The SBC always welcomes feedback and questions about the process. You can make a public comment by clicking on the “comment” button at the bottom of any of the posts on the SBC website, or you can send a message directly to the SBC by clicking on “Contact the SBC” on the site’s home page menu.
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