Leicester School Building Project
Vote on September 26th at 10:00am School Special Town Meeting 88 Huntoon Highway in Leicester |
The Special Town Meeting to vote on the proposed PreK-8 school has been set for Saturday, September 26th, 2020 at 10:00AM at the former Millbrook Distributors site, 88 Huntoon Memorial Highway, in Leicester.
The building will open beginning at 8:30am for check in due to the large number of anticipated voters. Free shuttle service will be available from certain locations in Town and special precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of residents during COVID.
For more details about this event including the Town Meeting Warrant, meeting rules, transportation and safety, please visit the Town website here.
Please note: If you were unable to attend the most recent Community Forum on 9/16/20, the presentation can be viewed here (scroll down to the bottom half of the page). In addition, all presentations from previous Community Forums are also posted.
As always, comments or questions can be submitted via the “Contact” tab on the website: https://leicester.projects.nv5.com/contact/.
Project Update:
On April 15, 2020 the MSBA approved the Project Scope and Budget Agreement for the new Leicester Middle School project! A letter from the MSBA was submitted to the District with information regarding the grant amount as well as an approved extension to November 2020 for the Town of Leicester to acquire and certify local approvals (see Important Date Changes below).
COVID-19: Public Meetings Update and Videos
In accordance with Governor Baker’s Emergency Executive Order of 3/12/20, all public meetings will take place remotely for the health and safety of Town employees and the public during the Massachusetts Covid-19 State of Emergency. Please stay tuned for postings of future meetings.
In the meantime, please review these informational project videos which were recorded last month with lots of information about site selection and design, including water management:
Leicester Schools Building Project Site Selection
Leicester Schools Building Project Site Design
Leicester Schools Building Project Site Selection and Water Management
On behalf of the Town of Leicester and the Leicester Middle School project team, we wish for everyone to stay safe and healthy as we navigate our way through these unprecedented times. Thank you.
Commonly asked questions and answers can be found here. This FAQ document will be updated often to include additional questions and answers submitted through the “Contact” tab.
After almost four years of hard work and dedication, the 100% Schematic Design package was approved by the School Building Committee and was submitted to the MSBA on February 13, 2020 AND the MSBA Board approved the Project Scope and Budget on April 15, 2020!
NOTE: IMPORTANT DATE CHANGES
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Select Board voted on March 23, 2020 to move local voting from this Spring to the Fall. New dates are as follows:
Saturday, September 26, 2020 – Special Town Meeting (funding approval)
Note: Due to Covid-19, an alternate location has been selected which can accommodate a large group of people, at safe distances. The Special Town Meeting will be at 88 Huntoon Highway (the former Millbrook Distributors building).
The purpose of the Special Town Meeting is to vote on the future of the Leicester School project.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020 – Presidential Election (ballot question)
For more information on the history of this important project, please click on document links below:
“Recognized by the Community as its greatest asset, the Leicester Schools engage every child in rigorous student-centered learning in a safe and technology rich environment.”
For more information, please visit us on Facebook:
Leicester: Strong Schools, Strong Community
https://www.facebook.com/LeicesterStrongSchoolsStrongCommunity/
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
Feel free to reach out to the project team via the “Contact” tab on this website.
We are pleased to inform you that the Leicester School Building Project has hit the ground running! The consultant team has been established, including the Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) NV5 and the Designer, Finegold Alexander Architects – and the Feasibility Study phase is well underway! The Leicester Middle School project team is excited to be engaged with the Leicester School Building Committee (SBC) as well as members of the community as information continues to be gathered, which will ultimately result in determining the preferred option for the Leicester School Building Project.
The project team submitted the PDP (Preliminary Design Program) to the MSBA on April 16! The PDP included concept diagrams which are very early diagrams intended to show options for siting, building size, shape and approach. Please note that at this very early stage in the design process, these drawings do not reflect program layout adjacencies and details. These concept diagrams were presented to the School Building Committee on March 21, 2019.
| Educational Visioning Workshops |
Note: A series of three (3) Educational Visioning Workshops recently took place, at the Leicester Middle School. The workshops were led by the Architect’s educational programming consultant, David Stephen, of NewVista Design. All participants were fully 
engaged and lots of great information was gathered to help establish Design Priorities and Guiding Principles which will assist the project team in creating a road map to design a new facility! Documents from the workshops (including agendas, notes, presentations and photos) have been posted and can be viewed on this website under the “Presentations” tab.
| Project Schedule And Historical Information |
For those who have been following the project, the Town of Leicester was invited by the MSBA into the Eligibility Period back in February of 2017. Progress Timeline has been created showing the many steps which have transpired including the Eligibility Period, Forming the Project Team and Feasibility Study/Schematic Design (current phase) as well as projected dates through Town Approval and Funding in May 2020.
Information can be found here about the Feasibility Study performed in 2015 as well as supporting documents including a Video and Pictures of the Middle School, Community Presentation and Letters and Documentation.
Note: Please read a letter from the MSBA about the closure of the Leicester Memorial Elementary School. The School Committee is scheduled to vote on January 22, 2019.
Remember to check this website frequently for upcoming meeting information as well as past meeting minutes and presentations and general project updates. For project inquiries, please contact:
David Genereux, Town Administrator, at (508) 892-7077 or genereuxd@leicesterma.org or
Marilyn Tencza, School Superintendent, at (508) 892-7040 or tenczam@lpsma.net
Thank you!
The Leicester School Building project te