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

schools

Minuteman school construction work on track thus far

The Minuteman building site looking from Lincoln toward the school.

Site preparation work for the new Minuteman High School building in Lincoln is progressing smoothly, according to construction officials, though residents are hearing more noise than they would like.

Construction crews haven’t run into anything unexpected or unusual while clearing and excavating the site, said Walter Kincaid, a project executive for Gilbane Building Co. He and a representative from Skanska Building USA, Minuteman’s project manager, met with neighboring residents and the head of the Minute Man National Historical Park at a meeting in late August. They updated residents on site clearing, ledge blasting, rock crushing and dirt removal as well as efforts to minimize dust and the relocation of a massive 130-ton boulder to the west end of the property.

Builders have thus far kept their promise about keeping the trucks off Mill Street, which is frequently used by cyclists and walkers. “There are many blind turns on Mill Street, and it would be disastrous, given the narrowness of the street and the high number of recreational users, to have heavy trucks also using the street,” said Keith Hylton, who lives at 5 Oakdale Lane.

In addition to noise from truck backup horns starting at 7 a.m. during the week, “the blasting has also been louder and more intense than we thought. Our whole house shakes and it can be quite scary sometimes,” said Joe Genovese of 27 Mill St.

“We’re hoping that the concussions from blasting have not caused any hard-to-see damage in the foundations for homes or in water wells in the area,” Hylton said.  Workers have been giving advance notice of blasting to residents via email, he and Genovese added.

Kincaid said blasting of ledge would continue up to three times a week through the month of September. Crews are scheduled to start putting in the building’s foundation around September 18.

The $145 million project broke ground in June and is thus far on schedule to be completed within two years. “We’re going to put kids in the new school in the fall of 2019,” Kincaid said.

Auction attracts dolls and dollars for Lincoln METCO group

A Marilyn Monroe doll poses for her eBay portrait in Joanna Schmergel’s home (click to enlarge).

An unusual but generous donation of vintage dolls will benefit enrichment and recreational programs for the Lincoln School’s Boston-based students via the Lincoln’s METCO Coordinating Committee (MCC).

The MCC organizes and funds academic and social activities outside of school for Boston and Lincoln students in grades K-8. Lincoln is one of 35 suburban school districts that participates in METCO, the voluntary Boston school desegregation program begun in 1966.

The windfall came about when Lincoln resident Seth Rosen was looking to donate his late mother’s large doll collection. His friend Joanna Schmergel—who volunteers in the MCC’s after-school kindergarten reading program that connects adult readers from Lincoln with pairs of students—offered to sell the dolls on eBay to raise money for the MCC. After researching each doll’s history and value, she posed them artfully in various spots in her house to photograph them.

Rosen’s mother collected the dolls over about 20 years. Most are from the Franklin Mint, although there are also some older antique dolls and random doll-related or doll-house-related items. “I bought her a doll once for her birthday, and that’s what caused her to have an interest in them,” he said. “She always loved her dollhouse as a little girl, so I think somehow this struck a nerve and she enjoyed it.”

The items are listed on Schmergel’s eBay store. As of September 9, 20 dolls had been sold for a total $998.91 and shipped to buyers in seven states as well as France, Poland and Great Britain, she reported. She hopes to clear $3,000 if the other 40 dolls still on the site are sold.

In addition to Rosen’s dolls, Schmergel is seeking donations of American Girl dolls in good condition for her eBay auction, because they have a a high resale value and are less costly to package than porcelain.

The MCC’s annual budget has grown from about $9,000 in 2014-15 to $13,000 in 2016-17, according to MCC liaison Pilar Doughty. This summer, the MCC collaborated with the METCO office, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Codman Trust to provide almost full scholarships to Lincoln Summer Day Camp for 29 Boston-based children. During the school year, the MCC also helps pay for bus transportation for METCO kids who want to participate in the Lincoln After-school Activities Program (LEAP).

In addition, the organization partnered last year with the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Stonegate Gardens and the PTO to get kids involved in community activities such as fall bulb-planting in Lincoln’s pollinator meadow and a day of scarecrow-making in October.

The MCC’s biggest non-monetary need is volunteers to help run programs and chaperone events. “Without committed volunteers who can take a leadership role, we can’t continue to offer the diverse programs and social engagement opportunities that we were able to offer last year,” Doughty said.

Later this year, the MCC—which is now a registered nonprofit that can accept tax-deductible donations—hopes to hold a fund-raising event. And the dolls definitely help.

“Much as I would love to take credit for any of this, the reality is that it was 100% Joanna’s effort, ideas, and energy that caused this to happen,” Rosen said. “I was simply looking to part with these dolls, and she turned it into an awesome opportunity to do something helpful and kind for our extended community.”

Workshops on school campus scheduled

There will be two community workshops on October 3 where residents can learn about and discuss options for the Ballfield Road campus.

Residents are invited to part or all of two “Developing a Shared Vision for our Campus” workshops on Tuesday, Oct. 3 from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. Both will be in the Reed Gym. Children are welcome and refreshments will be served.

The Lincoln School and the Ballfield Road campus grew over time between 1948 and 1994 as parcels of land were added and building projects completed. The last major addition to the campus occurred in 1994, when a school project connected the Smith and Brooks buildings, creating a unified K-8 school.

Now, as a community, Lincolnites have the opportunity to create a holistic plan for the campus. Between the work of the School Building Committee (SBC) and the Community Center Preliminary Planning & Design Committee (PPDC), every aspect of the campus is under consideration: the Lincoln School, preschool programs, after-school programs, a potential community center for the Parks & Recreation Department and the Council on Aging, playing fields, roadways, walking and bike paths, and parking lots. This workshop is designed to begin thinking about the space needed for all these pieces and where they fit on the campus.

A brief history of the campus can be found on the new SBC website, which aims to document and detail every aspect of the school project. To subscribe for automatic email updates from the site:

  1. Visit lincolnsbc.org
  2. Scroll down to “Subscribe to SBC Updates” in the white box on the left
  3. Type your email address where indicated and hit “subscribe”

You’ll then receive an email from the Lincoln School Building Project asking you to confirm your subscription; please click on “Confirm Follow.”

Anyone questions or comments may email SBC@lincnet.org.

Group aims to keep two building project committees aligned

The Campus Coordinating Group (CCG), which met for the first time on September 7, will begin work on an overarching timeline that lays out joint milestones and public workshops and charrettes for the Community Center Preliminary Planning & Design Committee (PPDC) and the School Building Committee (SBC).

The CCG was formed so the members of the two groups working on planning for a school project and a community center can keep each other up to date on their progress. It includes three members of the SBC (Superintendent Becky McFall; Chris Fasciano, chair; and Craig Nicholson) and three members of the PPDC (Tim Higgins, town administrator; Ellen Meyer Shorb, chair; and Owen Beenhouwer).

The next meeting of the CCG is Thursday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 a.m. in McFall’s office (second floor of the Hartwell building). After that, the group will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings every other week. All meetings are open to the public.

Magazine ranks Lincoln-Sudbury schools #12 out of 125

The cover of the September issue of Boston Magazine.

Of 125 public school districts within I-495, Lincoln-Sudbury is rated as 12th best in overall quality, according to a table in Boston Magazine.

To calculate the rankings, George Recck, director of the Math Resource Center at Babson College, compared each district’s data points to the overall average for all districts and then applied a percentage weight to the standardized data for each district to create an aggregate score. Characteristics such as smaller class size, lower student-to-teacher ratios, higher graduation rates, and higher rates of spending per pupil were considered more desirable.

For the purposes of the study, all of the K-12 public schools in Lincoln and Sudbury were viewed as a single school district. L-S ranked highly in MCAS/PARCC scores and especially in SAT scores, coming in at #11, #18 and #19 of the 125 districts for the math, reading and writing sections of the SAT respectively. However, the L-S district ranked rather low (#101) in average class size at 19.8.

Finishing ahead of Lincoln-Sudbury starting with #1 were Dover-Sherborn, Concord-Carlisle, Weston, Lexington, Wayland, Westford, Newton, Wellesley, Manchester-Essex, Harvard, and Sharon. The bottom five districts were Everett, Lynn, Brockton, Lawrence, and Chelsea.

“For the parameters selected, I think our aggregate scores look strong across the board and I don’t foresee significant changes for the next year,” said Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Superintendent/Principal Bella Wong. “I think our aggregate outcomes are very strong and continue to focus on ensuring success for all of our students.”

School Committee selects dual-firm design partnership

By Kim Bodnar, SBC member

The School Committee voted last week to approve the School Building Committee’s recommendation to enter into negotiations with Symmes, Maini and McKee Associates (SMMA) of Cambridge, which has entered into a collaborative partnership with EwingCole for the purposes of designing a Lincoln School project.

SMMA has extensive knowledge of the Ballfield Road campus, having completed a conditions analysis of the Lincoln School and Hartwell buildings in 2006-07. For this project, the firm is teaming up with Philadelphia-based EwingCole, which designed the new Hanscom Middle School (which opened in April 2016) and the new Hanscom Primary School (currently under construction). The start of SMMA/EwingCole’s work on the Lincoln School project is subject to the successful negotiation of a contract.

The interview and selection process for the five finalists took many hours over two evenings. The School Building Committee (SBC) thanks all the community members who attended the sessions and provided invaluable input. Their involvement in the process and candid feedback was greatly appreciated.

Earlier this summer, the SBC asked residents to complete a survey entitled “Shaping our Town’s Evaluation Criteria” and received 364 responses. Below is a summary of those responses.

1.  “We should maintain the current L-shaped footprint of school.”
  • 64% neutral, 15% disagree/strongly disagree, 12% agree,  9% strongly agree
2.  “We should take a blank-slate approach to the design.”
  • 33% strongly agree, 32% agree, 20% neutral, 15% disagree/strongly disagree
3.  “We should consider all new construction.”
  • 33% agree, 26% strongly agree, 21% neutral, 20% disagree/strongly disagree
4.  “The primary focus of the project is a design that focuses on our educational vision.”
  • 48% strongly agree, 35% agree, 12% neutral, 5% disagree/strongly disagree
5.  “The primary focus of the project is to make repairs and meet code.”
  • 27% disagree, 23% strongly disagree, 19% agree, 16% neutral, 15% strongly agree
6.  “The project should reach high energy efficiency standards.”
  • 42% agree, 39% strongly agree, 13% neutral, 6% disagree/strongly disagree
7.  “Adding additional recreation fields is important.”
  • 38% neutral, 33% agree, 15% strongly agree, 10% disagree, 4% strongly disagree
8.  “Building safety and security are a primary consideration.”
  • 41% agree, 26% neutral, 25% strongly agree, 8% disagree/strongly disagree
9.  “We need to minimize construction time.”
  • 42% neutral, 27% agree, 15% disagree, 12% strongly agree, 4% strongly disagree

When respondents were asked to rank the criteria mentioned in Questions 1-9 in order of importance, educational vision was #1, energy efficiency was #2, and building safety and security was #3.

The next School Building Committee will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room (click heree for the agenda). All are welcome to attend. Anyone with questions or comments may email sbc@lincnet.org.

News acorns

Clarification on Elizabeth Warren town hall location

Due to the editor’s oversight, the location for the August 25 town hall with Sen. Elizabeth Warren was omitted from the August 22 edition of News Acorns. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Concord-Carlisle High School (500 Walden St., Concord). Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

School Council seeks new member from the community

The Lincoln School Council is an advisory body to the school principals that includes parents, teachers and a community member. Due to a resignation, the group is seeking a new community member to serve. The council meets on a monthly basis, typically during the school day. Recent School Council work includes supporting goals in areas of homework, community building, and technology. Anyone who has questions or is interested in participating may contact one of the Lincoln School principals:

FOLL book sale seeks volunteers

The Friends of Lincoln Library Book sale is looking for additional volunteer help, The group meets on Tuesday afternoons from 1–3 p.m. to sort and cull donations of used books and other materials. The book sale takes place on the second Saturday of the month in the Bemis Hall basement from 9 a.m.–noon. Getting involved is a great way to get first dibs on books for yourself and family, or just to meet with like-minded bibliophiles. For more information, contact Susan Hallstein at reerichards1@gmail.com or 781-259-1023.

L-S Boosters membership now open

L-S All Sports Boosters membership is now open. Your $85 donation gets each family member an L-S Boosters card to use for admission to all home games (excluding playoffs). Get your card now and join us for the first home football game on Friday, Sept. 8. To purchase a membership or find more information, go to www.lsboosters.org.

News from the School Building Committee

Below are the latest updates from the the School Building Committee (SBC), which continues to meet throughout the summer:

  • There will be a tour of the new Hanscom Middle School with SBC members on Wednesday, Aug. 9 from 7–9 p.m. For Hanscom Air Force Base security purposes, those interested in attending must provide their full legal name and birthdate to Janice Gross (jgross@lincnet.org) by noon on Thursday, Aug. 3.
  • Daedalus Projects, Inc. has been hired as the Owner’s Project Manager (OPM). The OPM serves as the town’s advocate and helps communicate the planning process to the community and keep the Lincoln School project on schedule and on budget.
  • The Outreach Subcommittee is reviewing feedback from the 364 “Shaping Our Town’s Evaluation Criteria” survey responses that were submitted and will provide a summary in the next few weeks.
  • SBC member Craig Nicholson was appointed as a liaison to the Campus Coordinating Group, joining SBC Chair Chris Fasciano and Superintendent Becky McFall. The group was authorized by the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee to facilitate collaboration between the SBC and the Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee.
  • Five design firms have been selected as finalists for the Lincoln School project. The finalists will be interviewed on the evenings of August 15 and 16 starting at 6 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room. The interviews are open to the public.
  • The Outreach Subcommittee will meet on Thursday, Aug. 3 from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room and will begin discussions about creating the Lincoln School Project website. All are welcome to attend.

For more information, see the SBC web page. Questions or comments may be emailed to SBC@lincnet.org.

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.

News acorns

Fourth of July schedule set

Lincoln’s Fourth of July festivities kick off at 8:30 a.m. with the Firecracker Run (registration is from 7:45–8:15 a.m.) and continue with the children’s bike parade, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, the main parade, the Boy Scout cookout, and town-wide swim at the Codman Pool. The evening concert, barbecue and fireworks start at 7 p.m. Click here for a detailed schedule.

12 Lincolnites to ride in PMC

On August 5 and 6, a dozen riders from Lincoln will cycle up to 192 miles in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) with the goal of raising $48 million for critical research and cancer care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The event draws more than 6,200 cyclists from more than 40 states and eight countries who can choose from 12 routes of varying mileage that run through 46 towns. To learn more about riders’ teams and to donate, type the rider’s name into the “PMC Search” box on the PMC website. Lincoln’s participants are Don Alden, James Alden, Mark Deck, Jack Fultz, Keith Gilbert, Richard Glanz, Weston Howland, Carol Lu, Ed Morata, Julia Parrillo, Dan Pereira, and Tom Wilmot.

Connors receives lifetime achievement award from charity

Agnes Connors of Lincoln recently received the 2016 Top Individual Fundraising award and the Light the Night Walk Lifetime Achievement award from the Massachusetts chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LSS). For the past several years, she has been the top individual fundraiser for LSS’s Boston Light the Night Walk, and this year she raised $20,559.

Connors first became involved with LLS after being diagnosed with diffuse B cell lymphoma in 2003. After successfully being treated with chemotherapy, she began helping LLS by volunteering in its peer support program for patients and participating in the walk. Since then, she’s raised a total of $136,431 for Light the Night.

Lincoln group helps fund Hanscom field trips

Hanscom Middle School students break for a photo op in the MFA’s Egypt exhibit.

The Hanscom Middle School seventh-graders were able to visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Fine Arts this year, thanks to support from the Bedford and Lincoln Cultural Councils. During the June 9 trip to the MFA, students were able to view first hand many of the artifacts they studied in their Ancient Civilization class as museum docents offered an overview of the Art of the Ancient World collection, including works from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Most of them had not been to the MFA before and were pleased to learn that their military discount is valid every day, so many will return this summer with their families.