Open House | City Arts and Sciences Academy (CASA)

With the City Arts and Sciences Academy (CASA) set to open in the fall, there will be an open house event on April 1 to celebrate the new school.

The event will be held at Lynn Public Schools’ Eastern Bank building on Market Street from 3:30 to 5 p.m. It is open to CASA accepted students and caregivers, as well as all LPS students and families. It will feature performances by the LPS All-City Jazz Ensemble and Choir, an art installation, and an overview of the CASA program by Principal Christopher Norkun.

April 1 is Norkun’s first day as full-time principal of CASA. Since being appointed to the position in February, Norkun has been splitting his time between CASA and the Shoemaker School, where he has been serving as principal since the beginning of the school year.

CASA will be a STEAM school – science, technology, engineering, the arts and math – designed to prepare students for the rapidly evolving demands of the modern workforce. It will open at 33 North Common St. in the building that currently houses Fecteau-Leary Junior/Senior High School, occupying part of the building in 2025-26 and all of it in the fall of 2026. Fecteau-Leary will be moving to the Eastern Bank site on Market Street, with the therapeutic program relocating in the fall and the rest of the school in the fall of 2026.

CASA will open with approximately 100 students in both grades 6 and 9 and add two classes each year until it reaches its capacity of 700 as a grade 6-12 school.

According to its mission statement, “CASA inspires designers and artists to use creativity, critical thinking, and experimentation to imagine and cultivate a future vested in community.”

The concept for the STEAM academy was developed by LPS administrators and teachers in collaboration with experts from the Center of Arts and Scholarship and multiple community partners in the areas of the arts and marine science. During the design process, team members listened to students, parents, and former graduates who shared their experiences and thoughts.

Since being named principal, Norkun and other LPS staff have visited schools with similar programming in Malden, Boston and Maine, with a plan to go to Swampscott High.

While Lynn has a vocational high school in Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, students there pick a pathway and focus on that throughout their studies, while CASA will offer project-based learning, with students taking on different projects each trimester, according to Norkun. There will also be an emphasis on community partnerships with organizations such as RAW Arts and Girls Inc.

“We want students to be vested in the community when they graduate CASA,” Norkun said.

“CASA will integrate advanced curricula, hands-on learning, and real-world applications to engage students from diverse backgrounds,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Evonne S. Alvarez said. “We want to equip them with essential skills in critical thinking, problem solving and innovation that will prepare them for careers in high-growth fields.”

The conversion of 33 North Common St. to a fully enrolled STEAM Academy is being done in partnership by LPS and the City of Lynn. Alvarez, Mayor Jared C. Nicholson, the School Committee and the City Council have worked collaboratively to identify new space wherever possible in order to limit the need for the City to lease space for educational purposes.

“We are excited for the innovative opportunities CASA will provide,” Nicholson said. “This new STEAM academy will benefit generations of students and prepare them for a successful future.”

The above press release was submitted to us by Mayor Nicholson’s office.