Will the Stoneham Middle School Project Get the Green Light from Voters? [PHOTOS]

Residents will decide whether they want to fund the plan at a Special Town Meeting on Feb. 7.

While the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has already approved reimbursing Stoneham more than half of the total cost to construct the proposed Middle School, voters will decide whether to put the project on the April 3 Ballot at a Special Town Meeting on Feb. 7. The School Building Committee is seeking Special Town Meeting authorization from voters for the estimated $40 million project. If our recent poll on what should be the town's top priority in 2012 is any indication of voter sentiment, the Middle School project might get the support it needs on Feb. 7, as it garnered 43 percent of the votes to top the list. On Jan. 25, the MSBA approved reimbursing the town 57.5 percent for the school construction project, according to…

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School Building Committee Presents Stoneham Middle School Plans to Finance Board

The Stoneham School Building Committee provided the Finance and Advisory Board with the latest updates on the new middle school project.

The Stoneham School Building Committee went before the Finance and Advisory Board to present "The Middle School/Central School Building Project." The Committee ran through a number of topics related to the proposal, including history, site options and plans, educational and special programs, things to be determined, funding and savings, project benefits and the next steps in the project. History Site Options The School Building Committee offered nine potential sites for the project, labeling the “best option” to be a grade 5-8 building at the current Central Elementary School. Other options included renovating the current Stoneham Middle School, use Central Elementary School for grades 6-8, build a 6-8 (or 7-8) addition to Stoneham High …

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Stoneham High Students Recall the Events of 9/11

Stoneham High School students Brandon Polizzi, David Coscia, Michael Kelly and Alexa Federico remember where they were and what they were doing 10 years ago during the terrorist attacks when they were young children.

September 11, 2001. It was thought to be just another ordinary day for four elementary school students with the sun shining down and the bells ringing to start the school day, but what they did not know was their lives would be changed forever. Brandon Polizzi, a senior at Stoneham High School, was seven years old at the time and in second grade. “I was in elementary school attending Central (Elementary) School. I was in class and all I remember was the teachers gathering around and talking softly so we could not hear,” Polizzi said. “Then the teachers announced that school was being dismissed and for innocent second graders we thought this was great.” It was not until Polizzi arrived home to realize why he was dismissed from school that …

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Special Education, Student Handbooks Tackled By Stoneham School Committee

The School Committee discussed several topics in preparation for the start of school year, including special education, fiscal 2012 budget, handbooks and a new scholarship.

“I'm pleased to announce we are fully staffed and ready to go for the start of the year,” happily declared Superintendent, Dr. Les Olson, at the Stoneham School Committee meeting Thursday night. Special Education Director Steven Orloff informed the school committee of a recently completed self-assessment of the Stoneham Special Education Department and mentioned a grant he is working on for more professional development seminars for special education faculty. “Teachers have expressed a desire for more professional development days to improve special education,” Orloff said, detailing the need for staff to examine MCATs testing for special education students and other ability management classes. The committee also talked about restoring the…

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Whiz Kids

Hannah Smith, Fiona Ibrahim Are This Week's Whiz Kids

Smith participated in the Relay for Life for her fourth time and Ibrahim's "The Kissing Monster" poem gets published in the "National Time for Kids" publication.

Stoneham Patch Whiz Kids of the Week Key to Awesomeness: Smith has participated in the Relay for Life for four years now and each year she walks more miles. This year, Smith walked for three continuous hours to help find a cure for cancer. She walks for her grandmother and grandfather who both lost their lives with a battle with cancer. “It makes me feel good to do the Relay (for Life). I get excited about it every year,” Smith said. “One day I hope to work for the American Cancer Society so I can help find a cure.” Smith began to walk with her parents when she was 1 ½ years old and she has walked every year since. “This year was my fourth year and I can’t wait until next year. Sometimes our team sleeps over in a tent and we walk all night…

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Melisa Passanisi Thorne

11:11 am on Friday, June 24, 2011

Outstanding!   more ›

Patch Facts

MSBA OKs Stoneham Middle School Feasibility Study

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) recently announced that it has invited the Stoneham Middle School to do a more extensive Feasibility Study than previously planned, according to a press statement.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) recently announced that it has invited the Stoneham Middle School to do a more extensive Feasibility Study than previously planned, according to a press statement. The Middle School project is being moved from the MSBA’s repair category, and Stoneham and the MSBA will work collaboratively to study potential solutions to the problems identified in the district’s Statement of Interest.   “We are committed to working with Stoneham to find the most economical solution to the problems at the (Stoneham) Middle School so that the children of Stoneham can grow and learn in an educationally appropriate and safe facility,” said State Treasurer Steven Grossman. “This Feasibility Study will examine …

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Stoneham School Building Committee Reviews Middle School Plans

Proposed plans for the Stoneham Middle School project at the Central Elementary School site were presented at the committee's session Tuesday night.

The Stoneham School Building Committee reviewed a preliminary set of plans for a new Stoneham Middle School to be built at the current Central Elementary School site during its meeting Monday night. The Boston-based planning and architecture firm Tappé Associates presented conceptual plans for a fifth grade through eighth grade middle school that will replace the current elementary school. The plan to use the Central School was selected by the School Building Committee last month, over an alternate proposal to build the school at the Stoneham High School site. The plan would call for razing the Central School's existing gymnasium, leaving the school without a gym for two years until it is rebuilt as part of the new school. A wing of the …

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Viewfinder

PHOTOS: SHS Baseball Team Volunteers At Central School Playground

The Stoneham High School baseball team recently spruced up the playground area at Central Elementary School.

The Stoneham High School baseball team recently spruced up the playground area at Central Elementary School.  Check out our photo gallery to see the student athletes hard at work on May 13.

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Stoneham Parents Concerned With Middle School Site Plan

Central Elementary School parents shared the concerns of their children with the Stoneham School Committee Thursday night while the Committee tried to allay the parents' worries about the Stoneham Middle School project.

The Stoneham School Building Committee’s decision to propose building the new Stoneham Middle School at the site of the current Central Elementary School site drew several voices of opposition from local parents at the committee's meeting Thursday night at Stoneham High School. Several parents, all of whom have children currently going to the Central School, were concerned the reorganization would cause emotional stress among students potentially being separated from their friends. The issue became such to children of the parents in attendance that some of them banded together during a snack period recently to take their own vote on how to approach the issue. While School Committee members were appreciative that the parents were in …

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Final Answer: Building Committee Tabs Central School Site As Future Stoneham Middle School Location

Despite a narrow 4-3 vote in favor of the Central Elementary School site over the Stoneham High School proposal, the Stoneham School Building Committee came together and unanimously approved the Central School location Monday night.

STONEHAM — While neither of the proposed Stoneham Middle School sites are a perfect solution, the Stoneham School Building Committee ultimately chose the Central Elementary School location over the Stoneham High School one Monday night. The comittee was split 3-3 on the initial vote to decide the future Middle School site, with vice chairperson Lisa Gallagher, Bill Previdi and Paul Rotondi supporting the Central School site and Marie Christie, Ben Caggiano and David Bois in favor of the High School location. "I like the school project up here," said Christie of the High School site. "It sort of stabilizes the school system and I think it gives parents a sense of stabilization. "I think by eliminating a central school it will eliminate the …

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