LYNN — The city’s Early Childhood Center (ECC) is set to close by the end of the school year to make room for a new eighth-grade “Discovery Academy.”
Superintendent Patrick Tutwiler said the shift is designed to alleviate overcrowding in Lynn’s middle schools. If the $1.7 million proposal is approved, students who would normally attend the ECC would instead be dispersed throughout eight elementary schools in time for the upcoming school year. The current space for the center would then be converted, over the summer, into an academy for 300 eighth-graders interested in learning trades.
“The projected enrollment for the middle schools will push the enrollment of Breed and Marshall up by about 100 students each, and both schools are already oversubscribed,” Tutwiler said during a Feb. 28 school committee meeting. “We have been working on a plan to open an eighth-grade Discovery Academy at the Lynn Tech Annex (where the ECC is currently located).”
Tutwiler said applicant seats for the academy would be prioritized in terms of overcrowding needs. Breed district students would have first choice, followed by Marshall, then Pickering.
Most of the $1.7 million would be needed for staffing the new academy, said Tutwiler. The rest of the cash would be used for materials and moving costs.
Current ECC teachers would be redeployed to new classrooms throughout the city’s elementary schools. School Committee member Michael Satterwhite said, as of right now, the only position that could be eliminated is principal of ECC.
To pave the way for the school district shift, administrators will have to juggle classes throughout Lynn’s elementary schools. Kindergarten students at Tracy Elementary would be moved to Sewell Anderson, Ford kindergarteners would be housed at Ingalls, and 13 special education programs (nine from ECC and four from Sewell) would be dispersed throughout the city, according to Tutwiler.
Of the eight new spaces for early education students, six were open classrooms and the rest were meeting spaces or computer labs that will be converted back into classrooms.
“Relative to moving the special education classes, I want to be clear that there was particular attention paid to the student experience beyond the year — meaning there are programs and supports in place at the new school to allow the student to stay and receive the appropriate services through fifth grade,” Tutwiler said. “In this way, the proposal is far less disruptive to the special education students’ educational experience. We were also intentional in attempting to create like programs in the same schools to allow for the teaming capability.”
The Together Educating and Advancing Multi-Handicapped Students (TEAMS) program, a coach program involving students of all grades with medical conditions currently held in the Lynn Tech Annex building, would remain in place alongside the proposed Discovery Academy.
“Students being able to explore the trades before high school is something we haven’t done in a long time,” Satterwhite said. “They have to apply to get in for the academy. If those accepted are interested in going to Tech for high school, they would have to re-apply the following year.”
While Satterwhite is optimistic about the new academy, he does have a concern. Given the program would be based on district, any student could apply for it, including those in private schools.
“Private school parents are already calling to see if their eighth-graders are eligible,” he said. “If 300 kids from private schools apply and get accepted, it’s not going to help us with our overcrowding.”
From a legal standpoint, there is nothing the administration could do to stop anyone in the district from applying, said Tutwiler. It is a risk you run in creating such a program, he said.
While the new academy may not be a complete solution to the middle school overcrowding, Tutwiler said it will help, creating a program for eighth-graders eager to try their hands at trades.
“Overcrowding is one of the most pressing issues facing us,” School Committee member Jared Nicholson said during the Feb. 28 meeting. “It’s going to be great for those students and teachers to alleviate that at those schools. I think it’s so wonderful that the solution involves using what I think is really one of the gems of the city in Lynn Tech.”
