Braintree Hears Design Plan For New South Middle School

BRAINTREE, MA — Mayor Charles Kokoros met Thursday with design and architecture teams to hear a presentation on what the new South Middle School will look like.

The new middle school project was approved via a $63 million debt exclusion that Braintree voters supported in a special election last fall. Mayor Charles Kokoros said the school is expected to be open by the 2023 school year and will feature 146,000 square feet of space.

"This is a great opportunity for our community to show how much we support our school system, our students, etc. through this building," Kokoros said while calling its construction a "historic moment" for Braintree.

Boston-Based architecture firm MDS and Hill International, a Boston-based design team, presented preliminary designs for the school. MDS Principal Will Spears said the new building will be built behind the existing school to have as few interruptions as possible between construction and student learning.

He said the new school will consist of three main parts.

The first section will include a dining room/auditorium, media commons, two innovation labs with computers and a band room.

The second part of the school will consist of two 2-story sections, organized by grade. This is where classrooms will be with grades 7 and 8 in one and the lower grades in another,

The third part of the building is the athletic wing and includes two gymnasiums, one with bleachers and one without. In the middle will be a courtyard with three seating areas designed to allow teachers to take a classroom outside.

Access Routes

Spears said there will be three access points to the school. One will be for student pickup and will connect to Peach Street. Parking lots for parents and teachers will also be built off this roadway, Spears said.

Buses will enter the school from Kenmore Road, and there will be separate emergency access in the back for public safety officials only.

Project Schedule

Spears said the plan is to have all construction documents and designs approved by August 2021. The project would then go out to bid for two months, and then construction would start. Construction is expected to last until May 2023.

In June 2023, roadway connections, road paving and finishing touches will last through October, with the school opening at the end of August.

Community Questions

Residents submitted questions, and most of them came from abutters. Mary Kate McDonough, a Richard Road resident, asked what types of fencing will be used to separate the school from neighboring homes. She said there's currently a chain link fence between her house and the school.

Mary Mahoney, the project manager for Hill International, said construction crews will leave fences in places wherever possible. She said one place fences may need to be removed is Celia Road, as that's where the water main connection to the school will come from. She also said any fences removed will be replaced with ones of the same or better quality.

Another resident, Kate Joyce, asked if tennis and basketball courts will be removed. Hill International Principal Mike Carroll said they will, but there will be space for other recreational activities.

"One of things we tried to do here while maintaining the existing school is be conscientious of green space," Carroll said. "That space is roughly the size of a full size soccer field."

Carroll said there's also plans for a half court basketball court and four square area adjacent to the cafeteria for recess.

The next community meeting regarding the South Middle School project was scheduled for April 7.