Officials celebrate elementary school construction

REVERE – Hard hats and silver shovels were handed out to city and state officials during the official groundbreaking this week for the Staff Sgt. James Hill Elementary School.”This is a belated groundbreaking,” said City Councilor Stephen Reardon, who emceed the event Monday afternoon. “As you can tell, the ground has already been fully broken.”Large piles of dirt and heavy equipment did little to block the cold wind that whipped through the gathering of nearly 100, including state Sen. Anthony Petruccelli and parents and students.”This has really been a long time coming,” said Mayor Daniel Rizzo. “This is the final piece of the puzzle that is five new school buildings.”Rizzo said parents, staff and students of what is now the McKinley Elementary School have been extremely patient and understanding while four other schools were built across the city.”I’m happy to say to you now, today is your day,” he said. “I’m proud to say we made a promise and we kept it.”Getting there was not easy, “and at times it was painful,” Rizzo added.After casting around for a space large enough to accommodate a school for 600-plus students, it was decided the city would have to use Hill Park on Park Avenue. The park had been named for Staff Sgt. James Hill, who was killed in World War II, and Rizzo worried that the family would be hurt by the news.”But it’s easier to find a place for a new softball field than a new school,” he said. “So we approached the Hills and asked if they would accept us going forward and that we’d name the school for Sgt. Hill, obviously.””Seventy years is a long time to be remembered,” said Kevin Hill, a nephew of James. “I’m sure that since 1945 there have been dozens of other veterans that have returned home or not that haven’t been remembered like this.”Hill said his family is honored that the school will be named for James Hill, and he hopes that learning who Hill was will be part of the curriculum for students attending the school.Massachusetts School Building Authority Executive Director Jack McCarthy called the groundbreaking the best part of his job. He also said that the state is picking up nearly $30 million of the $45 million project.The new school will include a gymnasium and cafeteria in addition to classrooms. Superintendent Paul Dakin said studies show that facilities are unimportant when it comes to student achievement, but he rejects that assertion. Having a new school makes an impression on students and the fact the community came together to make it happen shows they care, he said.Dakin not only thanked city officials and McCarthy for supporting the mission of building new schools but also former mayors Robert Haas and Thomas Ambrosino. Dakin said in 2000 he put together a master plan for the school district that included building five new schools, and the ensuing city councilors and mayors never let it slip by the wayside.”They never forgot the dream,” he said.