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

schools

New Hanscom Middle School proceeding on schedule

The new Hanscom Middle School will have "neighborhoods" of classrooms with shared central space.

This 2014 sketch of the planned new Hanscom Middle School will have “neighborhoods” of classrooms with shared central space.

Construction of the new Hanscom Middle School is on schedule and expected to be completed this spring.

“Education has changed a lot since the old schools were built 60 years ago. This new space will allow us to teach with 21st-century methods,” said Erich Ledebuhr, Hanscom Middle School principal. “The setup of the building is different as it is not the traditional classroom-by-classroom setting. There are a lot of common and open spaces—the design of the building was built around a common indoor space in the center of the school with classrooms surrounding that.”

In 2014, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall offered examples of the school’s design features and a floor plan when making the case for educational enhancements to the Lincoln School.

The new school will feature indoor and outdoor learning areas, STEM-enabled classrooms (science, technology, engineering and math), and a building system with solar panels and rainwater harvesting for teaching. There are also two general-purpose rooms, a gymnasium, an information center, a computer lab, a science lab, a specialist room, music and art rooms, a classroom for learning-impaired students, and administrative offices.

Since breaking ground on the middle school project in June 2014, students have been educated in nearby temporary facilities. As the project nears completion, school officials are ramping up plans to move the primary school into the temporary facility over the summer so that work can begin on the new primary school, which is slated to open in September 2018. Once they’re both complete, the schools be connected and will share a cafeteria and kitchen.

Both schools were built in the late 1950s and have had several upgrades. The last major renovation/addition was in 1988 at the primary school.

All funding for the two projects—$34 million for the 85,000-square-foot, 310-student middle school and $36 million for the preK-3 elementary school designed for 450 students—is from the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity.

News acorns

acornGroup forms to study vocational education possibilities

The newly formed Vocational Education Options Working Group will hold its second meeting on January 11 to explore options for Lincoln students in the event the town decides to withdraw from the Minuteman High School district.

At its first meeting on December 29, the group discussed its change and composition, with formal votes expected on Monday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. in the Selectman’s conference room. Members thus far are Selectman Peter Braun, Town Administrator Tim Higgins, Finance Committee member Laura Sander, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall, and at-large member Patricia Mostue, a member of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Committee.

The Board of Selectman decided to form the Vocational Education Options Working Group on December 21, the same night it scheduled a Special Town Meeting on February 23 at which Lincoln residents will vote on whether to withdraw from the Minuteman district and whether to ratify the new regional agreement. Students from Lincoln will still be able to enroll at Minuteman if the town withdraws, though they will not be guaranteed a spot.

Card still working on coffee shop/bookstore plan

Lincoln resident Richard Card is still looking for a location for his planned bookstore, coffee shop, and cocktail bar because the first site he had in mind fell through due to parking issues.

Blazes was hoping to work out a lease at 10 Lewis St. in part of the space owned by the Food Project, but the parking at that site wasn’t sufficient, he said. He declined to specify other possible sites. Card added that he has “investors who are very, very interested but haven’t signed anything yet,” but may do so once a site is secured for the business.

 

Letter to the editor: many Minuteman issues to mull

letter

(Editor’s note: the most recent Lincoln Squirrel article about Minuteman can be found here.)

To the editor:

Minuteman High School has become an important topic of discussion here in Lincoln. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, we will have a Special Town Meeting at which we will be asked to decide if we want to remain in the Minuteman School District. There are many incredibly complex issues to be examined and an informed decision will require much thought, consideration, and understanding from all of us.

[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: many Minuteman issues to mull

Letter to the editor: PTO thanks its Community Partners

To the editor:

On behalf of the Lincoln PTO, I’d like to extend our deepest thanks to our PTO Community Partners whose contributions have helped make possible our many enrichment activities at the Lincoln School. These activities include visits to the school by poets, dancers, and puppeteers; science, nature and engineering workshops; historical reenactments and more.

In 2015-16, our Community Partners include:

Doherty’s Garage Tricon Sports
Donelan’s Supermarkets Country Pizza
Barrett/Sotheby’s Dr. Ivan Orup
Cambridge Trust Company Fitness Together
AKA Bistro Premier Cleaners & Tailors
Stonegate Gardens Sky Salon
Clark Gallery Something Special
Concord Printing Whistlestop Café
Tim Siok Landscaping Services

Our children’s education is richer because of the help these community partners provide, so I hope you’ll join me in saying thanks for another great year at the Lincoln School!

Sincerely,

Kimberly Bodnar
Lincoln PTO Chair/President

Letter to the editor: regrets over failed school vote in 2012

letter

(Editor’s note: This letter refers to Lincoln not being invited into the state funding pipeline for a school project—see the Lincoln Squirrel, Dec. 21, 2015.)

To the editor:

It is the right season, so maybe we can do a variation of It’s a Wonderful Life in which we went back and saw the errors of our way and voted yes to the original school project proposal a few years ago (well, we did vote yes, but not by a supermajority). We would be just now completing the new Lincoln School project while enjoying state funds to subsidize it as well as reaping the benefits of lower construction costs and minimal interest rates. Also, our hard-working civic volunteers would now be fully focusing on the community center and Minuteman High School projects instead of now revisiting the Lincoln School project.

Unfortunately, I don’t think wings will be coming to our guardian angel anytime soon.

To the responsible groups: yes, please continue the fight for the new school. Our youngest residents need and deserve it! As for me, I will start preparing for the higher taxes that I will most likely have to pay now that the project will be much more expensive.

Sincerely,

Louis Zipes
South Great Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.

Key votes on Minuteman slated for Monday night

mm1By Alice Waugh

Selectmen from towns in the Minuteman High School district met last week to endorse a new regional agreement with a few minor changes—including adding language that would allow Lincoln to leave the district along with several other towns without having to pay for the new school project.

[Read more…] about Key votes on Minuteman slated for Monday night

A breakthrough and a hiccup for Minuteman

mm1Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a clarification of Lincoln’s Minuteman spending in 2015-16.

By Alice Waugh

Area officials have hammered out a newly revised Minuteman High School regional agreement by stripping out the contentious “host community” compensation issue and making it the subject of a separate agreement between the town and the Minuteman school district—but both deals must still be approved by the Minuteman School Committee (MSC). [Read more…] about A breakthrough and a hiccup for Minuteman