Letter to the editor: Lincoln teachers urge “yes” vote on school project

To the editor:

The Lincoln Teachers Association, the Lincoln School Committee and the Lincoln School Administration have a long history of working collaboratively to support the education of the children in Lincoln. It is with this collaboration in mind that we are reaching out to the residents of Lincoln prior to the new school building vote in December. The Lincoln Teachers Association strongly supports the school building project for several reasons.

In our work together, the LTA, School Committee, and administration share a commitment to teaching the children of Lincoln in a forward-thinking manner. We aim to create an innovative learning environment where students’ academic and social development can flourish, where students develop confidence to see themselves as leaders of their own learning, and one that fosters collaboration amongst students and faculty. We see the following as some of the positives points in the building project:

• A new building will provide a climate-controlled environment that will better allow students and teachers to better engage in and focus on learning.
• The variety of spaces the new building will provide allows students to be taught in a variety of different groupings and allow for more interdisciplinary and collaborative work.
  between students and within teaching teams. These spaces are more suitable for collaborative, project-based learning.
• In addition, the numerous learning spaces allow teachers to better meet student needs, as we have a variety of teaching spaces to work within.
• The new learning commons, dining space, and media center/library have the flexibility to be used in a number of ways, both for the school and the community.
• A dedicated kitchen/dining space allows for the gyms to be used full-time for learning.
• Given the beautiful town we live in, it is always our desire to get students outside for both learning and recreation. The new building provides opportunities to further connections to the outdoors.
• The specific design of the building for grades 3–8 allows for better use of resources and provides dedicated spaces for collaboration.
• Bringing preK into the same building allows all the teachers in Lincoln to work together as we teach students from preK to eighth grade. It allows for greater cross-grade interaction and eases the transition from preK to K.
• With a central entrance and single administrative suite it allows the building to truly feel like a preK–8 building.

The LTA hopes you take these factors into your thinking during the upcoming building project process vote and decision. As always, we look forward to seeing residents in and around the school and appreciate your support in our efforts to provide the best education for your children along with the School Committee and administration.

Sincerely,

Matt Reed and Elaine Herzog
Lincoln Teachers Association co-presidents

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Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.