The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

schools

School officials begin cutting items from school project

The School Building Committee on Wednesday started the process of changing and removing elements of the school project to meet a voter-mandated budget, making a handful of adjustments from a list provided by SMMA Architects that totaled just over $1.4 million. But the group has more work to do to reach the target total reduction of $8.97 million.

A week ago, the SBC was presented with two independent cost estimates of $102 million and $109 million for the project. Since then, architects and Daedalus, the owner’s project manager, took a closer look at those figures to try to reconcile them. The lower estimate rose while the higher one fell, and the resulting higher figure (the one that the SBC must use for planning) is $104.28 million.

Over the next two weeks, the SBC will continue the “value engineering” process of voting on items to cut that add up to $8.97 million. That figure represents the difference between the $76.01 million construction portion of the total $93.9 million budget approved at a Special Town Meeting in June and the latest construction cost estimate of $84.98 million.

The full project budget also includes non-construction “soft costs”—fees, contingencies, escalation percentages, furniture, technology, permitting, etc. Since June, the estimate for those soft costs has also risen from $17.9 million to $19.3 million.

The areas where cost estimates rose the most compared to June were site work, which went up by $5.22 million, and temporary modular classrooms, which rose by $2.94 million. Before the June vote, the site work plans were more incomplete than the rest of the project and it turns out the required work is slightly more extensive and costly than expected. The earlier estimates had also assumed that some space on the Hartwell side of campus could be sued as temporary “swing space” during construction, but since the spring, it’s become clear that the pods can’t be used for this because they are fully occupied and would also require costly code upgrades to be used as regular classrooms.

The value engineering list includes line items of possible cuts but also a few additions. The SBC on Wednesday approved one of those additions—$150,000 for a tweak to the layout of the learning commons.media center portion of the building that members already approved in principle at their previous meeting.

Some of the biggest dollar items on the value engineering list are program changes, such as eliminating all work to the auditorium except HVAC, sprinklers and fire alarms ($1.59 million); eliminating the media center wing and putting that function in the learning commons area ($1.26 million); eliminating the link between the Reed gym and the main building ($1.17 million); and keeping preK in the main Hartwell building rather than adding it to the renovated building ($1.01 million).

School officials are understandably resistant to these sorts of reductions. “We hate to see programs cut before other things,” said Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall. As for the idea of not building a link between the school and Reed gym, middle school principal Sharon Hobbs was more emphatic, saying it’s “unacceptable” to keep the two buildings detached from each other for safety reasons.

A covered walkway was actually in the initial plan when the gym was built in 1970, but ironically, “it was value-engineered out,” said Buck Creel, Lincoln Public Schools’ administrator for business and finance.

Other ideas floated

Several other cost-cutting ideas were floated as well, but officials need more information before deciding if they are feasible. For example, if the town is able to buy the modular classrooms now being used at Hanscom on favorable terms, it could save up to $1.7 million. Another possibility is reducing or eliminating the direct cost for the photovoltaic system, which would save up to $3 million. That would require amending the town’s solar bylaw to allow selling excess electricity to the grid and working out a favorable contract with the PV vendor.

Yet another possibility is moving the cost of furniture and equipment from the construction budget into the school’s operating budget. This could save $1.06 million on the project, but that money would still have to be appropriated as part of the annual budget process.

Also at the SBC meeting, Town Manager Tim Higgins reported on preliminary research by officials on possible supplementary funding sources for the school project. These include:

  • The Community Preservation Act, which might be applicable to recreational items in the project such as playgrounds
  • Chapter 90 state roadway funds and the Complete Streets state grant program, which might be tapped for Ballfield Road and/or walkway improvements
  • A town fund that receives annual fees paid by cable TV companies, which may be applicable for work in the Brooks auditorium, where televised Town Meetings are held
  • Grants to help pay for photovoltaic (PV) solar panel installations on or near the school

Officials are gathering more information on all of these ideas, but meanwhile, the clock is ticking. The SBC is due to finalize the cost-cutting process on October 17, which will be followed the next day by a multiboard meeting; the annual State of the Town meeting on October 20; a second multiboard meeting/community forum on November 15; and bonding votes by residents at a Special Town Meeting and the polls on December 1 and 3, respectively.

Magic Garden to add infants’ room, second toddler room

Early next year, the Magic Garden Children’s Center will start accepting infants, add another toddler room, and expand into a second location—the “stone church” parish house rooms vacated by the Birches School.

There is a perennial waiting list for Magic Garden’s Rainbow Room, which offers the only full-day, full-year toddler program in Lincoln for children are ages 15 months to 2 years, nine months. The satellite facility on Bedford Road will add a second room for nine children in that age range as well as a room for seven infants up to 15 months old. The Rainbow Room will eventually shift to a more narrow age range and the new room will have the younger toddlers, with the exact distribution depending on the student census from year to year.

Two longtime teachers from the Hartwell facility—Michele Landurand, a pre-K teacher in the Starburst Room for 27 years, and Karen Puglielli, a teacher in the Moonbeam for 25 years—will move to the new facility, and each will be joined by a newly hired teacher aide. Both teachers are already certified to care for infants and toddlers.

“Magic Garden has a culture and an ambience, and we want to make sure that stays consistent across locations,” said Andrew Pang, president of the board of directors.

Karen Puglielli

Michele Landurand

The space will undergo renovations this fall, including replacing an existing exterior window with a new door to meet the code requirement for three exits (one of which is wide enough to roll out cribs during an emergency). There will also new appliances and cabinetry as well as sinks for hand-washing and snack-making. The renovations will be paid from grants and some of Magic Garden’s accumulated reserve funds. “The school is in strong financial shape,” Pang said.

“The First Parish classrooms are ideal for this purpose, filled with natural light from the large, south-facing windows and offering direct access to a new, age-appropriate outdoor play space,” said Lori Leo, Magic Garden’s director.

Magic Garden was established in 1982 by a group of Lincoln parents to fulfill a need for full-time early education and care in town. It’s licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and enrolls children from Lincoln, Wayland, Sudbury, Weston, Concord, Waltham, and other area towns.

“The board of directors and faculty are thrilled to extend the range of Magic Garden’s services to fill these longstanding gaps for local families,” Pang said. “This builds on our 36-year mission of providing high quality early education and care to support area parents.”

Latest cost estimates for school project are well over budget

Town officials were chagrined Wednesday night to learn that preliminary cost estimates for the Lincoln School project are substantially higher than the $93.9 million budget approved by residents at a Special Town Meeting in June.

At its meeting Wednesday evening, the School Building Committee (SBC) and others heard the two independent estimates for the project—one at $102 million and one at $109 million—in shocked silence. Those numbers are 8.6 percent and 16 percent higher than the original figure, respectively.

On Friday, architects and representatives from Daedalus, the owner’s project manager representing the town, will have an all-day meeting to go over the cost estimating figures in detail and try to reconcile the two estimates by making sure they used the same set of assumptions as to scope, quantities and costs of materials, etc.

“We need to understand why” both figures are significantly higher than the earlier estimate, said Delwyn Williamson, director of cost estimating at Daedalus.

The gross square footage of the project has changed slightly in design tweaks since June, but square footage “is not really making a difference at this point,” Williamson said. One of the contributing factors for the increase may be in the cost of modular classrooms, because early proposals incorrectly assumed that the Hartwell pods could be used for some of the swing space during the two phases of construction, she said. The cost of reusing the modular classrooms from the recent Hanscom projects is also higher than anticipated, but it’s still unclear exactly how much these issues affected the estimates.

Between this Friday and the next SBC meeting on October 3, SMMA will come up with a list of “value engineering” items for the SBC to look at as they consider what aspects of the project to change or remove in order to meet the mandated budget.

“We have a very high level of sensitivity to the community’s need to have that price as low as possible while still preserving the program,” said SBC member Kim Bodnar.

On a hopeful note, Buck Creel, the Lincoln Public Schools administrator for business and finance, noted that the initial estimate for the 2012 project came in at more than $60 million, but the SBC was able to get that amount down to $49 million (although the project eventually failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority at Town Meeting). Part of that reduction came about when the SBC elected not to relocate preK from the Hartwell building to the main school—a move that is also in the current plan, at least for now.

More meetings coming up

The SBC is scheduled to approve a final cost figure on October 17. The group may add another meeting on October 10. There will be a multiboard meeting on October 18 (two days before the annual State of the Town meeting) to gather questions from other town boards, and a second multiboard meeting/community forum on November 15.

A two-thirds majority is required at a Special Town Meeting on December 1 to approve bonding for the project. There will also be a December 3 town-wide ballot that must win a simple majority for the project to advance.

The $93.9 million Option L3 was the mid-priced choice among the three options presented to voters in June. In the final vote, 74 percent of residents voted to move ahead with Option L3, compared to 17 percent for Option C ($94.3 million) and 9 percent for Option L2 ($83 million).

Changes at First Parish, School Committee

The School Committee is seeking an interim member to fill an unexpired term, while the First Parish in Lincoln has announced an interim minister for the next two years.

The School Committee invites residents who are interested in serving as an interim member (replacing Jena Salon, who resigned as of August 31) to submit a statement of interest detailing their qualifications and experience. Statements should be emailed to schoolcomm@lincnet.org by Thursday, Sept. 20. 

There will be interviews of all candidates in a joint open meeting of the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room. Each candidate will be asked to make a brief opening statement, respond to a set of questions from the committee and board members, and have an opportunity to ask questions of the members. The members will vote at that meeting to select one of the candidates to serve as an interim member of the School Committee.

The interim member will serve until the next annual election this spring, at which time there will be an election for a one-year term on the School Committee (filling out Salon’s term) as well with an election for a three-year term.

Transition at First Parish

Rev. Jenny Rankin

Rev. Jenny Rankin has been named interim minister at the First Parish in Lincoln effective August 15. She succeeds Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, who left after two and a half years in Lincoln to become senior minister at the First Parish in Ann Arbor, Mich., one of the anchor churches of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

Ordained in 1988, Rankin began her career as acting university chaplain at Tufts University before serving congregations in Hopedale, Hingham and Cohasset as an interim minister. Called to First Parish in Concord in 1997, Jenny served as minister there for 15 years, followed by interim ministries  in Gloucester, Lexington, and Franklin. She has taught and lectured on Transcendentalism, Emerson, and Margaret Fuller as well as Celtic spirituality, spiritual autobiography, the contemplative tradition, and creativity as a spiritual practice.

Both religious organizations to which the First Parish belongs (the UUA and the United Church of Christ) require a two-year term for an interim ministers. “The time between settled ministers is a great opportunity for the congregation to take a fresh look at itself, see what areas might need attention, and grow clearer about who they are and how they’re called to serve the world,” Rankin said. A permanent minister is expected to start in August 2020.

Registration is now open for religious education classes at the First Parish for children in grades K-7. 7 as well as the OWL (Our Whole Lives) classes. OWL is a human anatomy and sexuality course that’s open to all eighth-graders, including those whose families do not attend First Parish in Lincoln. Required parent orientation night is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4 from 7–9 p.m. OWL will meet approximately twice each month on Sundays from 7–8:30 p.m. beginning October 14.

For more information about First Parish religious education programs, click here or contact Education Director Margit at 781-259-8118 x112 or Margit@FPLincoln.org.

Architects show latest school plans

The school floor plan as of September 5 (click to enlarge).

Residents at two workshops on Wednesday saw the latest drawings of the Lincoln School project showing what SMMA principal architect architect Alex Pitkin called “reinvention of the heart of the building” as well as campus circulation and construction phasing.

The middle of the refurbished building includes a central office area and entrance with an “airlock” for both security and climate control. Nearby are offices for the school psychologist, social worker and some special education staff, as well as two large common areas to minimize walking time for students. The media center has been moved to the west side of the building (away from the driveway) since the last presentation two weeks ago.

September 5 workshop presentation:

  • Overall floor plan – pg. 11
  • Entrances – pg. 21
  • Bus and car circulation and dropoffs – pgs. 22-25
  • Pedestrian and bike circulation – pgs. 26-27
  • Sustainable design features – pgs. 35-41
  • Construction phasing – pgs. 44-46

The central area “is a focal point for the building that makes a statement,” said Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall.

There will be a preK entrance at the southwest end of the building and a community entrance at the northeast end to give access to the auditorium and Brooks gyn, which will be connected to the main building. A learning commons for all nine grades replaces the current story room and the seldom used stage area of the Smith gym. Next to it is the dining commons and kitchen.

The new media center will be smaller than what exists today. The current space “is nice, but not ideal for instruction and not well organized for how library/media arts centers are used today.” We don’t efficiently utilize our space right now,” McFall said. Although there will be some “weeding” of the book collection, “we hold tangible paper books in very high value, especially for young kids,” she added.

Pitkin also pointed out the grade-level hubs with movable walls, which “require teachers to have really conscious thought and decision-making about what gets taught where and by whom (movable walls) and which kids are with which teachers where… as opposed to teaching in a one-size-fits-all approach,” McFall said. At the new Hanscom Middle School, which has hubs of this type, “they have made amazing progress in that regard in the last two years, and we still have room to grow in that area.”

Environmentally sustainable features include net zero energy use with all-electric heat as well as photovoltaic arrays on rooftops and over the Brooks parking area, a 30 percent reduction in indoor potable water use, sustainable construction materials, and recycling 75–90 percent of the construction waste.

“The entire building on this campus is going to be re-skinned” with new triple-paned windows and insulation, Pitkin said.

Construction will occur in two phases spanning three years. The auditorium and Smith gym will each be out of commission during one of the 18-month phases. Assuming all goes as planned, 28 modular classrooms plus storage trailers will be installed on the central ballfield in summer 2019.

The schematic designs should take another few weeks, after which teams of cost estimators will come up with firm budget figures to present to the School Building Committee in late September or early October, Pitkin said. The estimates presented at the June 9 Special Town Meeting, where residents selected option L3, was $94 million. 

School Building Committee workshops on Wednesday

The School Building Committee will hold a pair of identical community workshops on Wednesday, Sept. 5 from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. in Reed Gym to recap its work over the summer since the Special Town Meeting vote on June 9. Topics will include:

  • Floor plans – Where are the grades located? How are the hubs and the commons laid out? Where is the new kitchen?
  • Site plan – Traffic flow, pedestrian paths, bike paths, parking.
  • Sustainability – What needs to be done to try to reach our goal of a net zero building?
  • Phasing – Where will students go during renovation?
  • Next steps – What is the SBC working on over the next couple of months?

Topics of future meetings this fall before the December 1 Special Town Meeting to vote on financing the project:

  • September 26 — Review preliminary cost estimates
  • October 3 — Review reconciled cost estimates and value engineering items
  • October 17 — Approve final cost

For more information and a full schedule, see the SBC website or watch videos of past meetings.

School Building Committee adds Aug. 15 session

The School Building Committee (SBC) has added a meeting to tis summer schedule on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room. Topics for the next several meetings:

August 15

  • Mechanical systems: update and discussion
  • Energy model: presentation and discussion
  • Photovoltaic plan: presentation and discussion

August 22

  • Review site plan
  • Review floor plans
  • Review updated exterior elevations
  • Phasing plans
  • Preliminary interior spaces review

September 5

  • Final site plan
  • Final floor plans
  • Final elevations review
  • Final mechanical and electrical systems
September 26
  • Review preliminary cost estimates
October 3
  • Review reconciled cost estimates
  • Review value engineering items
October 17
  • Approve final cost

For more information and a full schedule, see the SBC website or watch videos of past meetings.

Schedules proposed for school, community center projects

The current school campus showing when various sections were built.

School and community center planners have proposed schedules for further community input and eventual start dates for their respective projects.

Daedalus Projects Inc., the owner’s project manager for the school project, presented a schedule to the School Building Committee earlier this month calling for three community forums from August to October as well as six committee charrettes on various aspects of the school design.

Charrettes on hubs and commons and on building envelope and sustainability took place on June 27 and July 11, respectively. The next session on Wednesday, July 25 at 7 p.n. in the Hartwell multipurpose room will focus on building exteriors and site circulation. Other charrette dates and topics:

  • Systems and photovoltaic panels – August 8
  • Interior spaces and security – August 22
  • Schematic design pricing set – September 5
  • Cost review: September 27

The final cost estimate is due on October 1. Residents must vote on a dollar amount to borrow for the project at a Special Town Meeting on December 1, 2018 (with a two-thirds majority required for passage) and at the ballot box on December 3.

Assuming the project is approved, construction documents and bidding will take place next, with modular classrooms installed in spring and summer 2019, and actual construction running from November 2019 to November 2023.

Community center plan

The Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee submitted its final report outlining two possible design directions on July 19. A survey of residents who attended the June 9 Special Town Meeting showed that voters were almost evenly split on which of the two they preferred.

In their report to the Board of Selectmen, the CCPPDC recommended creating a community center building committee in late 2020. That group would approve a budget for schematic design (currently estimated at $300,000), hire an architect and owner’s project manager, and prepare for a Town Meeting vote on the building site and budget in March 2021.

The town will not have the borrowing or campus space capacity to begin the community center until after the school project is nearly complete. The CCPPDC therefore recommended holding a bonding vote on March 2022 and starting construction in March 2023.

School option L3 wins the day

School option L3 (click to enlarge)

After almost a year of meetings, community forums, architectural work, and spirited debate, Lincoln residents voted to move forward with school concept L3 at a Special Town Meeting on June 9.

Consulting architects SMMA will now produce a schematic design with detailed specifications and an updated cost estimate. The current estimate for Option L3 is $93.9 million, including solar panels and other “net zero” energy use features. A two-thirds majority is required at a Special Town Meeting on December 1 to approve bonding for the project. There will also be a December 3 town-wide ballot that must win a simple majority for the project to advance.

On the first vote, which was conducted using paper ballots and voting machines (a first for a Town Meeting), 632 voters in the Brooks Auditorium and nearby gym weeded down the initial five options to three, with Option L3 gaining a majority already:

Number of votesPercentage
Option R274.3%
Option L1101.6%
Option L28513.4%
Option L335456.0%
Option C15625.7%

Option L3 won a substantial majority in the second round of voting:

  • Option L3 – 74%
  • Option C – 17%
  • Option L2 – 9%

Before turning to the school issue, the Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee presented two possible design ideas for a community center on the Hartwell side of campus and asked residents to complete survey forms on which they preferred. That feedback will be part of the group’s final report to the Board of Selectmen in coming weeks.

The meeting opened with presentations about the five school options and their costs, the tax impacts of borrowing varying amounts, the conditions and repair work needed at the school, and a history of school project planning and construction since 1994, as well as recommendations from the Board of Selectmen, Capital Planning Committee, and Finance Committee (see links below).

Background:

  • A roundup of past Lincoln Squirrel stories and letters to the editor on the school project (updated June 10, 2018)

Town Meeting presentations:

The two community center options (click to enlarge)

Over the past year, the School Building Committee looked at 39 different school options before settling on five to present for the June 9 vote. A sixth option was rejected earlier as being beyond the town’s normal borrowing limit.

Much of the discussion before the votes centered on the educational benefits of hub spaces that would allow teachers to work with student of different sizes and more easily collaborate on teaching within a grade, vs. whether such spaces were worth the added cost.

Dozens of residents stood in line at microphones to ask questions and make a case for their choices before the votes. A sampling of those remarks:

  • “I’m a huge proponent of Options L3 and C… but L3 is probably a compromise,” said Jen Holleran, member of a Lincoln educators group.
  • Option L3 would put Lincoln “in the middle of the pack for residential tax rate,” said Ginger Reiner. “What we are experiencing as a giant leap in taxes is just recalibrating to bring us more in line with our neighbors. We’ve enjoyed lower than average taxes by essentially borrowing against our future selves; we’ve artificially suppressed our taxes and it’s time to pay that debt… Option L3 is the perfect intersection of the town’s values.”
  • “Our kids are doing all right,” said Carolyn Montie, noting the top-tier colleges that many Lincoln School graduates have attended. “All options are viable… but putting those resources to direct services to students would result in a better outcome.”
  • “Every dollar put into the school made real estate prices rise by $1.50” compared to similar towns that didn’t do a major school project, said Ben Shiller, assistant professor of economics at Brandeis University, citing academic research. “The selfish decision is actually to choose one of the more expensive options.”
  • Lincoln’s master plan doesn’t mention an upgraded school but does call for continued investment in affordable housing, open space and conservation, and economic development, said Sharon Antia. “Where will we find the dollars for our stated priorities?”
  • Children today “have information at their fingertips—they don’t need to cram it all into their heads” in a traditional classroom setting, said D.J. Mitchell. “We need to [develop] collaborators, tinkerers, and problem solvers. Sometimes this requires larger spaces, multi-age groupings, teachers working across disciplines, quiet reflection and loud collaboration… we need to transform educational spaces for the 21st
    century.”
  • “We have a responsibility to honor the historical legacy of the Smith School, which was groundbreaking in its day,” said Christopher Boit. Option L2 “honors our commitment to net zero as well as a full kitchen and [the option of] collaboration at mealtimes… the difference in my education was not the buildings, it was the teachers.”
  • The hub spaces in Options L3 and C mean that children taken aside for individual or small-group instruction for any reason “are not stigmatized by being pulled into hallways,” said Cathy Bitter.
  • “We’re going to end up taking people out of this community because this is going to impact their taxes a lot,” said Daniela Caride. “In Lincoln, you go anywhere and you see three generations of people living here. [Other area towns] are generally bedroom communities. Do we want to be this kind of community? I’m still looking for an option here. We should be mindful of our neighbors who may get into trouble with all this cost.”
  • The tax increase from L2 to either L3 or C “sounds like a pretty good bargain,” said Cheryl Gray.
  • The increase between the higher-end options which is in the vicinity of $200-300 annually “is just one less trip to Donelan’s,” said Chris Gill.
  • “Some people are concerned that the price is still not optimal for what we’re getting, so I hope do some serious value engineering” between now and December,” said Steve Massaquoi.
  • “Given the total dollar amounts we’re talking about, I’m not that concerned” about the relative difference in tax hikes between the top two or three options, said Allen Vander Meulen. “But which of the plans do the teachers prefer?”
  • At the most basic level, consistent classroom temperature and lighting are the top priorities for teachers, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall said in answer to Vander Meulen’s question. But since the new Hanscom Middle School opened, “they’re seeing the collaboration possibilities… the flexible grouping of students and targeted instruction… for either more intervention or more challenges.”
  • The presence of hubs in a school “affects our ability to attract good teachers big-time,” said Bob Shudy. Without hubs, many of the best young teachers “wouldn’t even consider” applying to work at the Lincoln School.
  • Option L2 “contains the reasonable minimum for facilities and teachers. I find the notion of adding hubs or flex spaces to be speculative,” said Adam Greenberg. “Education is changing much more rapidly than any snapshot you choose to pick today.”
  • Saying she hoped to persuade fans of both Option L2 and C to agree on L3, Lis Herbert said that L2’s concept of having only single flex spaces for Smith and Brooks is “deficient and doesn’t rise to the occasion” but that Option C reflects “a uniquely American desire for shiny, efficient new things. We often forget about what we have and what we can adapt to suit our needs… we literally pull up stakes and go west.”
  • “A difference of $10 million between L2 and L3 is significant,” said Diana Abrashkin. “There’s so much that could be done with $10 million in terms of teacher salaries, or more amenities in the actual buildings. The difference is the teachers, not the shape of the classrooms.”
  • Option L3 has a better distribution of hub spaces, while Option C has “a perfectly good gym moved from present location,” said Graham Atkinson.

Letter to the editor: L3 is the best—not a compromise

To the editor:

I don’t think of L3 as a compromise, or second best. I understand it to be the best choice for Lincoln, and for our children. This is based on personal value judgements, but they are value judgements that I think many of us share and make without realizing it. 

Much of the potential in L3 has to do with the L itself.  Not only is preserving and reusing the existing building a sustainable choice, it is a sensible one: it acknowledges the connection of the school to the land, to the roots of modernism in Lincoln, and to the values of the town and the reason many people choose to live here. The L is Lincoln.

A lot has been said about the way the L sits on the land, how it is viewed from the outside, how it is nestled into the landscape and tucked into the trees. Very little has been said about the view from the inside to the outside, and I am not sure people have focused on how much this matters with respect to how we feel inside a building. 

The L, and all of those hallways—which, with some creativity, can be lively, dynamic spaces in their own right—are the reason there is something to see from both sides of the building. The L offers a long, uninterrupted view of the fields and conservation land beyond. And there are mature trees that dot the campus, many of which will be lost if we condemn the L. The central spot on the L, which would become the central gathering space in a new school, also happens to have the best view. A new commons facing out to the conservation land would be a very special thing, drawing you outside, again, from the moment you step through the door. The L preserves the beautiful, underappreciated courtyard on the Brooks side of the building. The Smith art studio is thoughtfully positioned to face north and out. The Smith gym, with soaring wooden beams, would be preserved and smartly surrounded by classrooms to take advantage of the view.

By contrast, the X of the compressed shape of C dictates that in both wings the exterior views, on one side, are to the other side of the building. The other views from C are to parking lots, and the new Smith gym—windowless and monolithic—can’t be surrounded by classrooms to take advantage of any views because of the new parking lot. In C the art and science rooms for both elementary and middle school face a driveway. 

The interior spaces can shift, but we are voting on the perimeter, and the perimeter dictates the views. Drawing a visual distinction between L3 and C means giving points for unobstructed views, and if you were to hold one against the other, you would discover that L3 offers about twice as much visual connection to the land. 

Some people will brush this off as silly, frivolous stuff and say that aesthetic concerns shouldn’t play a role in our thinking. And yet, aesthetic choices are fundamentally what make us happy to be somewhere, especially for long stretches of time (11,000 or so hours for a child who starts in pre-K and is there through eighth grade). There is tremendous value—educationally, environmentally, emotionally—in feeling like you’re actually part of the surrounding environment. This is a value judgement, and one that hinges on the subconscious, but there is a reason we prefer the apartment with a view over the trees to the one with a view of an air shaft. We would rather look at a field than a parking lot. We would rather sit in a garden than sit in a warehouse.

So much flows from simply feeling good about where we spend our time, and I truly believe that L3 can and will be spectacular. Look at any thoughtfully renovated modernist building to understand what is possible. None of that magic is possible in a compressed school that looks inward, rather than outward. 

Sincerely,

Lis Herbert
28 Lincoln Rd.

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.