Submitted by Superintendent Jon Sills
Given the surge in kindergarten enrollment this year, and our consequent need to have ten first grade classrooms next year, we were scheduled to modify two spaces at Davis School this summer to create an additional classroom. The plan was to convert the music and physical therapy rooms into one general education classroom and to break down a wall in the Green Pod to create an enclosed space for our occupational and physical therapy needs. In the meantime, our kindergarten enrollment for next year has reached 186 students, necessitating a ninth kindergarten class. To accommodate this additional need, we would have had to move music to a less than ideal space, convert the art room to a general education classroom, and place art on a cart.
In order to avoid these programmatic detriments, we are instead going to install two modular classrooms that will be attached to the Davis building by an enclosed corridor. This step has the added advantages of:
- leaving the Green Pod space available for pull-outs and cross-classroom projects
- maintaining music and art in their classrooms
- providing a cost effective and flexible space solution while we get a handle on enrollment trends
- costing only slightly more than the room re-purposing space modifications that we planned for
When we temporarily installed modular classrooms at the high school during the construction project, they became the most sought after classrooms in the building- as they were spacious, air conditioned and “sparkling new”, and I am confident that these two modulars will serve us well for a few years at Davis School. Because they will be attached to the building, they will feel like a seamless extension of the school building. They are, however, intended as a temporary solution. To that end, we are committing this year to an indepth analysis of housing, birth and move-in data upon which we can base our long term capital planning for Davis, Lane and JGMS.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Have a wonderful summer.
Jon
Jon Sills
Superintendent
Bedford Public Schools
781-275-7588
[email protected]
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