In Plymouth, the school district is one of the largest in the state, operating 12 schools. And the town can point with pride to two state-of-the-art high schools, and the Manomet Elementary School was just recognized by the U.S. Dept of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School.
But, two elementary schools in North Plymouth, in particular, need attention. WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more:
Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Christopher Campbell:
“Between the eight elementary schools, four of them are approximately 50 years old, two, within the remaining buildings, are between 70 and 114 years old. While they’re very well maintained – and we put a lot into the maintenance of our buildings – they just do not meet the needs of the student body at this time.”
And not meeting those needs are Hedge School and Cold Spring Elementary—this according to Ai-3 Architects:
“And they did what they call a conditions study, which is looking at the floor plan, the environment, the set up of those buildings in relation to 21st Century teaching and what the Massachusetts School Building Authority considers appropriate for educational safety. And their recommendation would be to do a renovation or new build for Hedge and Cold Spring.”
However, another plan has more practical appeal:
“Ai-3 feels initially that the Cold Spring campus looks large enough that we could do a consolidated building there for both Hedge and Cold Spring, so making a new North Plymouth school—which is .9 miles from one another.”
The next step is submitting a Statement of Interest to the School Building Authority:
“That School Building Authority is responsible for approving projects and then giving communities grants to help fund that. We submitted that by the deadline, April 24th and we should receive notification of what they feel our chances are in December.”
