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Pickering Middle School.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — Proposed middle school sites are the focus of Wednesday’s 7 p.m. hearing in the Pickering Middle School auditorium.
School officials and design consultants will discuss the initial search for a future location for middles schools and design options.
Superintendent Catherine Latham said the discussion will also focus on the types of educational programs local educators want to include in new schools.
The evening will also include depict interior and exterior views of Marshall Middle School, opened a month ago on Brookline Street.
“This is the first public forum for Pickering and it will allow residents and interested persons the opportunity to have their questions answered and their opinions heard and acknowledged,” Latham said.
Lynn’s three public middle schools had a combined 3,000-student enrollment when the school year began last fall.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy during winter planning meetings said the city needs to plan and build to educate another 1,500 middle school-age students.
The city is working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to meet Lynn’s school needs. The MSBA has authorized the city to undertake construction to provide school space for up to 1,660 students.
Initial discussions have focused on building two new schools with General Electric field on Summer Street and land off Parkland Avenue as potential sites for two new middle schools.
School officials are also considering plans to complete an addition to Breed Middle School and reorganize the school’s educational programs to match the cluster concept used at Marshall. Groups of about 120 students are grouped around classrooms each offering a different academic theme.
Other potential school building sites will be outlined at Wednesday’s meeting. But tentative plans calls for Pickering, located on Conomo Avenue, to provide space to ease overcrowding in elementary schools. The old Marshall School on Porter Street is scheduled to be torn down.
Another hearing is scheduled for June.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at tjourgensen@itemlive.com
