PEABODY — Welch Elementary School students and faculty were joined by state and local elected officials for the official ribbon cutting ceremony of the newly-renovated elementary school on Wednesday.
The 2024 school year also marks the Welch School’s 50th anniversary after opening its doors in 1974.
“It’s also a celebration of many dedicated people uniting to complete a historic project for our city and an important investment in education here in Peabody,” Mayor Ted Bettencourt said.
The project was a combined effort from the School Committee, City Council, state elected officials, construction and design teams involved in the project, and the Welch School community, beginning with the project’s start five years ago, he said.
Massachusetts School Building Authority CEO Jim MacDonald, whose office helped fund the project, invited four fifth-grade students to the podium with him.
“This is what it’s all about. These are the ones that are going to benefit,” he said.
“Thank you to the construction workers. Good luck with our new school,” fifth grader Maya Ferreira wrote on her poster for the ribbon cutting.
“Thank you so much, and cut the rope,” fifth grader Madison Joslin said.
“That’s what it’s all about,” MacDonald said.
Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala referred to the Welch School as a “neighborhood school” because many students walk to school.
“When they come to the building, it’s bright, it’s welcoming… Our kids come here, they smile every day,” he said.
Bettencourt introduced School Committee member Beverley Ann Griffin Dunne, who served as the chair of the Welch school building committee, as “the person who was the glue to this project, that really was the driving force, kept everybody on task, kept everybody focused on completing this project, working through the challenges and difficulties.”
“The children who attend and will attend this school are going to benefit from a warm, safe, sound, modern building, which will provide educational opportunities to our future leaders,” Griffin Dunne said. “This is where it all begins. Elementary school is so important to the beginning development of our children.”
She also announced the Welch School renovations received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, which she said is difficult for buildings that undergo renovations to earn.
LEED awards projects “points by adhering to prerequisites and credits that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health, and indoor environmental quality,” according to the U.S. Green Building Council website.
The Welch School project received a Gold certification, which is the second-highest rating level.
Helen Apostolides, who served as the school’s principal from the 1992 to 2003 school years, said she’s “ready to move in” after seeing the renovated building.
“It’s beautiful. It’s absolutely gorgeous,” she said.
Apostolides said when she was the principal she included ideas to improve the school in her school plan, and those ideas have come to life.
“It’s nice to see this. It’s like a dream come true, really,” she said. “The conditions for learning are in place here.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony “officially signifies the finalization of all the hard work that’s been put in,” Principal Michelle Massa said.
She said seeing her students holding posters at the ceremony and hearing them chant and cheer “is what we do this for.”
The state-of-the-art facilities at the new school include a new media center, physical education facility, and breakout spaces for smaller educational support, Massa said.
“It’s made everything so much easier for kids to access instruction,” she said.
“The kids make everything happen and this is for them,” Massa said. “They need to be part of it. This is their school. This is where they’re going to come back to when they’re older and wiser.”
