May 10th SBC Meeting @ 7:00pm
What a difference a year makes! Here’s the school on April 29, 2022…
And here it was on April 24th of this year!
Click here for this week’s SBC meeting agenda.
Tag: Learning Commons
Town Meeting, and some big “Thank you’s”!
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING! Saturday, March 25, 2023 in the Lincoln School. Check-in begins at 8:30am, Meeting begins promptly at 9:30am! Learn more here!
Thank you, FoMA and the Project Team! At the Lincoln School ribbon cutting ceremony in October, the Friends of Modern Architecture (FoMA) announced that it was awarding the project team (Architects SMMA & EwingCole, Consigli Construction, and Owner’s Project Manager, CHA) with its annual “Excellence in Modern Architecture” award. This past Thursday, FoMA president, Andrew Glass, and SMMA Project Architect, Jennifer Soucy, gave a presentation about the architectural history of the school and how the renovation built on the school’s Modern history while creating transformational educational spaces in a sustainable, net-zero building. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion featuring Chris Fasciano, SBC Chair; Kim Bodnar, SBC Vice-Chair; Buck Creel, Administrator for Business & Finance/Project Manager; and Jennifer Glass, SBC Member. The FoMA & SMMA slide decks are here, and the recording of the event will be posted soon!
Thank you, Sharon & Jennifer! At this week’s SBC meeting we gave heartfelt thanks to two departing committee members, Jennifer Glass and Sharon Hobbs.
Sharon will be retiring as the Lincoln School Middle School Principal at the end of June and last week’s SBC meeting was her last. Sharon consistently provided the important voice of the students, faculty, and staff throughout the building project. She braved late night meetings, often with her young daughter in tow, as critical educational based building decisions were being discussed and debated. Over the past 15 years, she spoke about the need for a project at many parent meetings, and during construction she worked quietly behind the scenes to ensure smooth transitions to and from the temporary classrooms and into the new school facilities. We are so grateful to have had her expertise and calm leadership guiding us through the project, and we wish her the best in retirement!
Jennifer, a member of the Select Board, is stepping off the SBC to avoid violating Open Meeting Law when SBC Vice-Chair, Kim Bodnar, joins the Select Board later this month. Jennifer’s unwavering dedication to the School Building Project began nearly 15 years ago when she began her tenure on the School Committee, and continued through her work with the many committees that contributed to the successful completion of the school project. Jennifer’s commitment to engaging residents through an open and transparent process resulted in countless community discussions, charrettes, public meetings, presentations, and the dynamic SBC website. As a member of the Outreach sub-committee, Jennifer helped craft hundreds of engaging and informative blogs, informing residents about the building project at each step along the journey. Her SBC meeting minutes are legendary and capture every detail of discussion and decision. The words “Thank You” hardly seem adequate to express the level of appreciation we have for Jennifer’s leadership over the past 15 years but … thank you!
– Kim Bodnar & Gina Halsted, Outreach
The slides from last Wednesday’s SBC meeting can be found here. Next meeting is on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 7:00pm.
Thursday: Friends of Modern Architecture Honors Lincoln School Project Team!
(And the School Building Committee meets on Wednesday! Agenda is here.)
The Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln (FoMA) invites you to a presentation, panel discussion, and reception celebrating the revitalization of Lincoln’s Modern school. Lincoln Modern architects Lawrence B. Anderson and Henry B. Hoover, who designed the original school buildings beginning in the 1940s, saw the power of Modernism to reimagine how architecture could assist the school community to think and learn in new and inclusive ways. With the generous support of the Town, the School Building Committee and the project architects have again reimagined the transformative power of architecture. The project team has realized an ambitious, first-in-the-state net-zero renovation that centers on teachers and students while preserving Anderson’s and Hoover’s original design intent of creating close connections to nature and using natural light to create calm energy throughout the building.
Please join FoMA in the Learning Commons at the revitalized Lincoln School for a lively evening of architecture, education, and sustainability on March 16, 2023, from 6:30-8:00pm. Or join remotely via Zoom webinar at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82628178201
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1994 – 1995 Time Capsules are on display in the Lincoln Public Library until Sunday, March 25th! Please stop by and see the 6th and 7th grade time capsules.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony/Time Capsule Photos
We have lots of photos from the Ribbon Cutting ceremony! Click here to check out the gallery. And click here to watch the SBC slide show.
On behalf of the School Building Committee, we are so grateful to our faculty, students, administrative team, custodians, technology gurus, and the project team for working so hard to get the building ready for the Ribbon Cutting and tours. Thank you Becky McFall, Buck Creel, Rob Ford, and Brandon Kelly for leading the tours and to the students and faculty throughout the building providing additional information. And a big thank you to the students and families of Cantibile for providing such beautiful music during the tours on Saturday. It was great to see so many people in the school on both Friday and Saturday!
Ribbon Cutting!
Thank you to everyone who came to the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in person or watched it on line. It was great to see so many members of the community and to share this moment with our project team, residents, students, and current and former faculty! Thank you, too, to Rep. Tom Stanley (Lincoln’s current state representative) and Rep. Carmine Gentile (our incoming Precinct 1 state representative) for taking time to attend the event.
Couldn’t see the school today? The school will be open to the public tomorrow morning from 9:00am – 11:00am! No need to RSVP – simply show up and stroll through the building. The time capsules are still set up (see the letter below!) and there will be people on hand to share information.
To see the SBC slide show that was playing during the event, click here.
If you would like to sign our digital guest book, click here and post a note, a photo, etc.
Stay tuned! There will be many more photos to come in our next blog post!
Come hear Cantabile play (and tour the school!)
Did we mention that there’s a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Friday, October 28th at 1:30pm?! Doors open at 1:00pm. Please let Amy Pearson, apearson@lincnet.org, know you are coming.
Can’t be there in person? Watch the ceremony live at https://www.lincnet.org/ribboncutting
Also, on Saturday, October 29th, the building will be open to the public from 9:00am – 11:00am! You will have a chance to see the school, AND you’ll be entertained by Catabile, a group of Lincoln School alumni (and current LS students): Victor Han, Henry Hussey, Nooreddeen Kawaf, Finn Larsen, and Luca Lee. The group’s Music Director is Rebecca Lee. Please come to hear these fabulous musicians!
Back to the future…
Where were you in 1995? Were you a student in the Lincoln School? Were your children in the Lincoln School? Were you teaching or working in the Lincoln School?
Before the current project, the Lincoln School was last renovated in 1994. During the 1994-1995 school year, students and teachers created time capsules that were designed to be opened in 2020. Covid and construction altered the timeline a bit, but now it is time for us all to climb into our time machine and see what our students were thinking about and predicting for the future!
The contents of the Time Capsules will be on display at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony on Friday, October 28th! (details and RSVP information below!)
What will we find when we open the envelope?
What predictions did the 4th graders make about life in 2020?
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony: Friday, October 28, 2022, 1:30 pm in the Lincoln School Learning Commons
1:00 pm: Doors open
1:30 pm: Ceremony begins
2:30 pm: Reception in the Dining Commons
3:00 pm: Building tours leave from the Dining Commons
Materials from the Time Capsules will be on display in the Dining Commons throughout the event.
Additional tours will be offered on Saturday, October 29th from 9:00 am to 11:00 am
To attend the Ribbon Cutting in person, RSVP to apearson@lincnet.org by October 21st OR set a reminder to watch the ceremony live at https://www.lincnet.org/ribboncutting
First Impressions
What do the faculty, staff, and students think about being in the renovated school? Here’s what a few of them had to say:
“I just left the building from unpacking and the school is AMAZING! The town should be so pleased! The Library, Learning Commons, office spaces, classrooms….I could go on and on. There is an energy in the building and a true level of excitement. Thank you!”
– Kathy O’Connell, Math Content Specialist (and long time Lincoln educator)
“The natural light is amazing, truly a game changer!” – Bryan Kelly, Grade 3 teacher
“Love the glass walls in my classroom that open to the Hub. It’s changed the way I think about lessons and where students are able to work.”
– Matt Reed, Grade 4 teacher
“The Hub spaces give us more space to work other than my classroom!” – Grade 4 student
“I love my office! It’s more spacious and functions how I need the office to work!” – Secretary
“I like that it’s (the school) is big, a lot of space to walk around and the new playground is not just a field but has a structure and things to do.”
– Grade 4 student
“The cafeteria is really big and the food is great!” Grade 3 student
“The gym floor is rubber instead of wood. It makes your feet feel better and doesn’t hurt as much when you fall!” – Grade 3 student
Wonderful to have PK-8 students all in one physical building!” Gwen Blumberg – Literacy Content Specialist”Enjoy being located in a Hub space office with classrooms all around. Makes collaboration flow more easily and students see us as all teachers working together.” – Alechia Torchia, special education teacher
Lincoln School Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Friday, October 28, 2022 @ 1:30 pm! Building tours after the ceremony & on Saturday, October 29 from 9:00 – 11:00 am.
Welcome Back to the Lincoln School!!!
For the first time since March 2020, our Kindergarten through 8th grade students will be together in one building! And for the first time ever, our preK students will join them. Welcome back to school, everyone! We wish you a creative, exploratory, fun, healthy, and great year. – The SBC Team
Ceiling combines wood and linear LED lighting.
Putting it all Together
You know that when there is a clock on the wall that final pieces of the project are starting to fall into place! Teachers will be able to move into their classrooms the week of August 22nd, and school starts on September 6th.
SAVE THE DATE! THE COMMUNITY IS INVITED TO THE OFFICIAL RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 @ 1:30pm!
Building tours on Friday after the ceremony and on Saturday afternoon, October 29. Stay tuned for more details!
More photos in the August gallery, and here is the slide deck from Wednesday’s meeting.