The Massachusetts State Building Authority is studying Countryside Elementary as a possible recipient for funding, according to this story by the Globe’s John Hilliard.
Mayor Fuller told the Globe that this is an early step in a review process that looks at the building’s condition, overcrowding and enrollment projections. From the article:
“This step does not mean that Countryside has, or will be, selected to be partially funded by the MSBA, but it moves us one step closer to that potential outcome,” Fuller said in the statement, which was released earlier this month.
and
“If Countryside is selected to move forward with the MSBA, the process will take many years of planning and study as well as decisions about funding sources before construction would begin,” Fuller said.
My take: Renovations at Countryside are long overdue.
It;s a long slog to secure MSBA funding but I hope it happens.
My daughter is graduating from high school soon but I know from her years at Countryside that the school really use an upgrade. It will be even more needed by the time the funding would be available.
If we expect the development on Needham Street to have school aged children, then Countryside, Brown and South all will need additional capacity. I hope the City of Newton can get Countryside rebuilt soon. Learning in modular classrooms are not ideal. Brown’s cafeteria is not large enough for more students (during non Covid times).
Let’s also rebuild with an eye towards environmental sustainability. The school is a wetlands area that is often subject to high water, so the new setting and design needs to take such things into account. It might also be possible to think ahead and design the surroundings as a setting for environmental education.
@Paul Levy – I saw some maps a few years back that were startling. They were put together as part of a study by a local graduate student. The maps were from the 1800’s and showed the near natural Newton wetlands at the time – before lots of drainage and other engineering work.
The maps then overlaid all of today’s Newton schools and the overwhelming number of the schools were in those 1800 wetlands. Now a fair amount of that 1800’s wetland areas are today, for the most part, high and dry, thanks to all that enginneering. Some of that land and some of those schools though are chronically dealing with flooding issues for each big storm – and yes, Countryside is one of them thanks to South Meadow Brook that’s right outside the back door.
This might be that study, Jerry, from 2011: https://newtonconservators.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/countryside.pdf
Thanks for the update Gail.
Families who have, or will have, a child go to C-Side are fortunate to have someone with your institutional and historical knowledge of the school still on the case.
Even after all these years, this is just really galling…
Wasn’t there supposed to be a carve out or set aside specifically designated for Countryside because of the Northland development on Needham St? What happened to that?
How were Angier and Zervas approved, designed and rebuilt in an efficient, speedy manner, yet this
project is going to take many years of study? The school hasnt changed structurally since at least the 80’s.
Countryside was first on the rebuild/
need to be structurally addressed study realeased
issued at the end of the 80’s,
yet Memorial Spaulding, Angier & Zervis suddenly rose to the top of the list. How did this happen and why?
What changed?
People need to be asking questions.
Lots of them.
I specifically remember having a long conversation with Ward 5 at large councilor Deb Crossley at the Hyde polls when she was imploring me to vote for the Northland project.
“Countryside will be dealt with because of this project”.
Where is she during this process?
What advocacy is she providing?
Maybe The Boston Globe and John Hilliard are the best options for getting these questions answered in a timely fashion.
Interestingly the article indicates that Northland would add 165 students to Countryside. Maybe it’s a mis interpretation because previously the enrollment analysis stated that Northland was estimated to add a total of 165 students to the school system do Countryside, Brown, & South. The Developers of Northland offered $1.5M to be used towards Countryside so clearly not enough to have significant impact on funding a new Countryside.
The planning for the other schools did take years. They have to follow the MSBA process in order to get some funding from the state which involves various steps to go through, My guess is that the City would have to do an override which would have to be specifically designated for the project if they are getting MSBA funding. They would have to study to determine whether they renovate and add on or build new. Some of the planning will be quicker since they learned lessons from building the other schools.
@Paul Green: I first wrote about the conditions at Countryside and the need for renovation in 1999. To be fair, there were 500 kids in the school then.