The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

schools

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.

 

 

School Building Committee offers timetable, urges public input

The School Building Committee held its first public forum last week to outline initial steps and emphasize the need for community input and participation in coming up with a school design that voters can eventually approve.

This summer, the SBC will interview, select and negotiate with an architect and owner’s project manager. Part of its work will involve close coordination with the Community Center Preliminary Planning and Preliminary Design Committee (CCPPDC), which is working in parallel with the SBC on a feasibility study for a community center on the school campus. To that end, the Board of Selectmen and School Committee have authorized a Campus Coordination Group to facilitate collaboration between the SBC and the CCPPDC. Members are Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall, Town Administrator Tim Higgins, the chairs of the PPDC and the SBC, or designees, and one other member of the SBC and CCPPDC.

The SBC hopes to develop preliminary design options starting in the fall, with a town vote to choose one of the designs in the spring. If all goes well, the next steps are producing detailed shcematic drawings and thn another town vote on bonding the project in November 2018.

Among the issues that the SBC will tackle early on are where the various functions of the school campus should go (for example, the Lincoln After-school Activities Program, school administration offices, pre-K classrooms and storage); what a “green” or “net zero” building might involve, and what roles that other boards and committees will play.

“We need your help—I can’t stress it enough,” SBC Chair Chris Fasciano said at the June 14 forum. “To bring this project to fruition, it has to be a community project. Not everyone is going to get what they want, but in order for it to succeed, the community has to embrace the process and help us get there.”

Gina Halsted, a member of the SBC Outreach Subcommittee, outlined the various avenues of communication the SBC will use, including social media and LincolnTalk as well as mailings, workshops, forums, coffees, and other traditional methods. Meetings are also live-streamed and recorded for later online playback on the town’s video website, and all meetings are open to the public. Agendas, minutes and other documents can be found here.

Halsted invited residents to submit comments or questions by email to sbc@lincnet.org, though she cautioned that “we can’t respond [via email or social media] unless it’s in a very factual way” due to the requirements of the state’s open meeting law.

The SBC has also posted an online survey asking about residents’ priorities for a school project (building shape, repairs vs. new construction, etc.) as well as how they preferred to informed. The survey is open until July 15.

Groundbreaking caps decade-long drive for new Minuteman school

Some of the many officials who took turns with the ceremonial shovels at the Minuteman High School groundbreaking were (left to right) Minuteman School Committee chair Jeffrey Stulin, State Rep. Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington), MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy, Minuteman School Building Committee chair Ford Spalding, and Superintendent Edward Bouquillon (click to enlarge).

Almost a decade in the planning, a new Minuteman High School finally got underway at a well-attended groundbreaking ceremony on June 14. The event took place where the front door of the new building will go, at the western edge of the district-owned property in Lincoln, a few hundred yards from the existing school in Lexington.

The $145 million project cleared its last hurdle last September with a district-wide vote. The new school is expected to open in September 2019, after which the old building will be demolished and new athletic fields will be built.

“An investment in education pays the best interest,” said Jack McCarthy, executive director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), quoting Benjamin Franklin. The project has been in the MSBA planning process longer than almost any other project in the state, spanning the tenure of several state treasurers, he noted.

“This project is like Job—it went through every trial imaginable… and we were spit out of the whale on September 20″ when the project was approved last year in the district-wide vote, McCarthy remarked. The MSBA is contributing more than $44 million of the school’s cost. To secure project approval, the district also had to revise its governance structure and membership, scale back student enrollment, and change state regulations so non-members contribute to capital costs.

“This project nearly failed several times,” said Minuteman School Committee chair Jeffrey Stulin of Needham. Speaking directly to Minuteman students in reference to how he felt at the project’s beginnings, he said, ” I expect that some time in the future, you too will become involved in an idea of importance where you’re overwhelmed and in over your head… but you have no chance of success if you don’t even try. You have to have courage to accept that you may fail.”

Minuteman Superintendent Edward Bouquillon, a Lincoln resident, said he first realized that the existing building needed significant repair or replacement soon after he accepted the job as superintendent in 2007, thus starting the decade-long journey to win voter approval and state funding. At times emotional, he thanked an array of people and organization, including his wife Diana.

Bouquillon urged officials not to tinker with the existing model for career vocational-technical education. “Now is not the time to shave off the best aspects of high-quality career and vocational technical education and try to graft it onto a traditional high school schedule,” he said. “All that will do is weaken our system in Massachusetts.”

He also urged the state legislature to increase funding for similar projects. “MSBA needs another penny of the sales tax to get all the vocational technical schools rebuilt and to build new ones to fill the skills gap,” he said. Currently, MSBA is funded by 16 percent (one penny) of the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax.

Guests at the groundbreaking included a host of officials from the state and district towns as well as education officials, members of Minuteman’s business-led program advisory committees, and a representative from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

There were no Lincoln officials in attendance, however. The town’s residents voted to withdraw from the Minuteman district in early 2016, a move that takes effect on July 1. At that point, the district will go from 16 towns to 10: Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Bolton, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Needham, and Stow.

The new school is designed for 628 students who will spend their Minuteman “careers” in one of two “career academies”: a Life Sciences and Services Academy, and an Engineering, Construction and Trades Academy. The curriculum’s 16 career and technical education programs will include two new ones: Multimedia Engineering (Technical Theatre) and Advanced Manufacturing.

Gilbane Building Co. is the construction manager for the project and Kaestle Boos Associates is the architect. Skanska USA Building serves as Minuteman’s project manager.

News acorns

School Building Committee workshop

The School Building Committee invites residents to a kickoff workshop on Wednesday, June 14 from 7:30-9 p.m. in the Brooks gym. Attendees will have the chance to met SBC members, learn about the next steps and the draft timeline, and help develop the town’s decision criteria for a school project.

Summer kick-off party for kids at library

Children of all ages are invited to the library on Thursday, June 15 from 3:30–5 p.m. for balloon sculpting, crafts, a raffle, make-your-own sundaes, and a magic show by Ed Popielarczyk at 4 p.m. Kids can pick up their reading Challenge forms. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library.

Talk on identifying birds

Lincoln resident Gwyn Loud will give an informal talk on the basics of identifying birds and bird calls on Tuesday, June 20 from 9:30–10:30 a.m. at the Lincoln Public Library in the terrace off the first-floor link (rain date: Wednesday, June 21).

Summer Fest at deCordova

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum will stage Park Fest on Saturday, June 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as a 5K trail run starting at 9:30 a.m. (click here to register). Signature collaborative activities from deCordova’s Learning & Engagement Team will include:

  • A large-scale Play in the Park
  • Roaming performances by larger-than-life puppets Big Nazo
  • Guided tours of the spectacular 30-acre sculpture park in full bloom
  • Art sale with more than 30 local artists and artisans
  • Live music throughout the day including local alternative folk duo The Farewells and singer Jenny Riddle.
  • Curator-led spotlight art talks in the galleries
  • Ceramic Sculpture Studio demonstrations by resident artist Bruce Barry
  • Photo ops near Jim Dine’s Two Big Black Hearts sculpture
  • Food and ice cream trucks
Free for members; click here for tickets for nonmembers ($20 for adults 18-60, $15 for seniors, $10 for children ages 6-17, free for children 5 and under).

School Building Committee to discuss public forum, timeline

At its meeting on Wednesday, May 31 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room, the School Building Committee (SBC) will discuss plans for a June 14 public forum, communications with other town boards and committees, and the committee’s timeline. The full agenda can be found here.

In its two previous meetings, SBC members introduced themselves to each other and elected Chris Fasciano as chair and Kim Bodnar as vice chair. The panel also named an Outreach Subcommittee (Kim Bodnar, Selectman Jennifer Glass and Gina Halsted), and SBC members Buck Creel, Craig Nicholson and Peter Sugar volunteered to begin drafting a request for services (RFS) for the owner’s project manager (OPM).

Residents are welcome to come to part or all of the SBC’s meetings. Anyone who has questions or comments for the SBC to address at a future meeting is welcome to send an email to sbc@lincnet.org (back-and-forth email discussions about SBC business are prohibited by the state Open Meeting Law).