Shaker Lane Building Project Update - June 17, 2025

Reimagining Shaker Lane School

The Shaker Lane Building Committee is completing the schematic design phase of the Shaker Lane Building Project. On June 11th, we conducted a Shaker Lane tour and presentation (insert presentation here), providing an update on the project's schematic design phase, including updated costs. We also held a forum before the May town meeting and updated the Select Board and Finance Committee at a public meeting on June 9th. We continue to work with the town's elected boards and the Shaker Lane Building Committee (SLBC) to find ways to mitigate the tax impact of the new school. I have included an attachment below that compares the cost of the new building to the cost of not moving forward with the project. The estimation of yearly costs to the taxpayer could be more expensive than building a new school, when considering the potential costs of code upgrades as well as the need for portable classrooms to provide the additional space required.  This comparison is based on a 10-year bond for the code upgrades and portable classrooms, and a 20-year bond for the new school. 

We will be holding a community forum on June 24th at the Middle School Cafeteria from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We encourage you to attend and learn more about the design and cost of the new Shaker Lane School. 

Additional tours and informational sessions at Shaker Lane School will be held on:

August 14, 6:30- 8:00 pm

October 21, 6:30-8:00 pm

Our educational needs for Shaker Lane School have significantly changed since it was built. We are looking forward to a reimagined Shaker Lane School, designed to better align with 21st-century learning and provide the necessary space for our current and future programming needs. This will result in an exciting and vibrant learning community for our youngest learners.

Shaker Lane Building Project Update - May 19, 2025

The Shaker Lane Building Committee (SLBC) continues to work on phase three of the project, which is the project’s design phase. We held an informational meeting before the May 6 Town meeting, which was well attended. Please find the presentation slides here. We continue to be excited about the design phase of the building project, which will provide us with a blueprint of the new school and allow us to develop a more accurate project cost.

Our educational needs for Shaker Lane School have significantly changed since it was built. We are looking forward to a reimagined Shaker Lane School, designed to better align with 21st-century learning and provide the necessary space for our current and future programming needs. This will result in an exciting and vibrant learning community for our youngest learners. Please see the information below

Re-imagining Shaker Lane/ School Educational Program Document 

Shaker Lane Building Committee Update - March 27,  2025

The Shaker Lane Building Committee (SLBC) has been working on phase two of the project (Feasibility Study) and submitted the completed PSR (Preferred Schematic Report) to the MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) in December 2024. As part of the PSR, an FAS (Facilities Assessment Study) was presented to an MSBA subcommittee on January 29, 2025. The MSBA subcommittee was impressed with our education plan for the reimagined Shaker Lane School. They were also impressed with the preliminary design of a new Shaker School presented at the meeting.  The SLBC  met with the MSBA Board on February 26, 2025, and the Board voted to move our project into phase three, which is the project's design phase. We are so excited to begin the design phase of the building project, which will provide us with a blueprint of the new school and allow us to develop a more accurate project cost.

Our educational needs for Shaker Lane School have significantly changed since it was built. We are looking forward to a reimagined Shaker Lane School, designed to better align with 21st-century learning and provide the necessary space for our current and future programming needs. This will result in an exciting and vibrant learning community for our youngest learners.

Re-imagining Shaker Lane/ School Educational Program Document