December 20, 2024 |City of Lynn, City Services, Education, LCTV News, Lynn Public Schools, News

Lynn Schools see major upgrades

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The new City Academy of Sciences and Arts at Fecteau-Leary and relocation of Frederick Douglass Collegiate Academy announced last week are the latest in infrastructure improvements and increased number of seats in Lynn Public Schools.

LPS and the Inspectional Services Department completed enhancements to several buildings for the 2024-25 school year that resulted in eight new classrooms and 170 additional seats, with plans for additional expansion starting in January.

At Breed Middle School, the library was relocated to create five new classrooms with 125 seats, as well as six office spaces.

At Cobbet Elementary, a classroom was added, allowing for 30 half-day pre-school seats to be converted to 30 full-day seats. There is a plan to add two more classrooms and at least 30 seats in January.

The Early Childhood Center on Bennett Street added three pre-school classrooms and 45 seats, as well as one classroom that was relocated from Callahan School to alleviate overcrowding there. There is a plan to open three addition pre-school classrooms and 40 seats at Bennett Street after January.

In February, the new Virginia Barton Center will open at the former Briarcliff Lodge and host a half-dozen classrooms of special-needs students and three office spaces currently located at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. That will allow Lynn Tech to use those classrooms to expand the construction and cosmetology shops, with 130 seats to be added for the 2025-26 school year.

“We’ve known for years this is a huge priority. We’ve been trying to address overcrowding. We’ve made some real progress over the years and it continues to be a challenge. This is a great example of projects we’ve able to execute that shows some ingenuity and grit to get this work done. We thank the LPS team, the ISD team and all the contractors we’ve had in the buildings and the ISD staff that helped us prepare the spaces.”

Mayor Jared C. Nicholson

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Debra Ruggiero made a presentation on the upgrades to the School Committee.

“It all comes down to space,” Superintendent Dr. Evonne S. Alvarez said. “We are maximizing the space we have in order to expand programming wherever we can. This is an ongoing effort and we are pleased with the progress thus far.”

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