Your Questions

Kittredge Elementary School was originally constructed in 1949, the total square footage of the building totals approximately 32,434 square feet. Four pod modular classroom buildings were attached in 2010, and a prefabricated gymnasium building was erected in 2013. 

The mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems have been renovated over the years, but the original components are beyond their useful life and are beginning to fail. Some of the mechanical systems that need replacing include the steam boilers and the entire steam system, and the condensing gas fired boilers. The existing plumbing systems and fixtures do not meet current building codes and are not ADA compliant. The electrical lighting systems need to be replaced, including the emergency lighting and fire alarm systems. Security and technology upgrades throughout the entire school are needed as well.  

The dated envelope of the building is also in poor condition, resulting in excessive energy consumption. The roof needs to be completely replaced, and there are masonry cracks and damaged brick on the façade. All exterior doors and windows need exterior sealant replacements.  

The existing building is not handicap accessible and does not meet current accessibility codes. Entrances are in need of handicap accessibility upgrades. Vertical lifts or ramps need to be added at the lobby to the upper classroom area, and elevators need to be installed. 

The entire building is outdated and does not support an educational model that meets the needs of today’s students. A new elementary school will provide a healthy and modern learning environment that will allow both students and staff to thrive. 

We have broken out the project goals into the following categories- Building Design and Site Design.  These goals will all have a positive impact on the experience the students, staff, and community have while on the finished campus. 

1. Building Design 

1. • Reduce class sizes and obtain our goal of having 20 students per elementary class (Our current ratio is 24 students per teacher).

   • Provide more classrooms the current number of classrooms (12) only allows for 2 classes per grade. The limited number of classrooms does not allow for flexibility in scheduling to better manage class size.

   • Provide adequate space for special education programs and student support services. Currently, small spaces such as large closets or re-purposed mechanical rooms have been pressed into service to provide these spaces, but these are not standard size and are not ideal for their intended use.

   • Provide for a full range of programs consistent with state and approved local requirements.

   • Provide adequate support spaces. Currently, there is not a dedicated music or art room, and the cafeteria is below standard size. (A standard size gym was added in 2013.) Closets have been converted to offices and walls have been taken down to try to create sufficient space. 

   • Provide a fully accessible building. The existing building lacks accessibility and does not meet current ADA standards. 

   • Safety and Technology Upgrades – Provide the most up to date security and technology standards to have a safe, secure, and enlightening learning environment.

   • Improve Indoor Air Quality Standards – Proper ventilation and air filtration improves the health and wellbeing of students and faculty, and overall academic performance. 

   • Energy Efficient Mechanical Systems – An energy efficient cooling and heating system will save on long term energy and maintenance costs. It is also an environmentally sustainable choice and will provide better thermal comfort to students and faculty. 

   • Acoustical Performance – Having good acoustics in a school (especially in music rooms and breakout spaces) helps to control noise, improves comprehension, communications, and student wellbeing. 

2. Site Design 

2. • Provide a fully accessible site. The existing site is not currently accessible and does not meet ADA standards. A fully accessible site design will give all children and adults the same access to all areas, whether they have a disability or not. 

   • Provide a safe site layout as it relates to parent drop-off & pickup versus bus drop-off & pickup. A revised site layout will be able to address safety and congestion concerns as it relates to vehicular flow on the property.  

   • Provide for outdoor learning environments. The school started utilizing outdoor learning spaces during Covid-19 and has continued to do so due to the positive outcomes associated with it. The new design will have dedicated outdoor learning spaces that will improve the health and wellbeing of students while fostering academic success and creativity. 

   • Provide safe and accessible outdoor play area. The existing outdoor play area is not accessible and does not meet ADA standards.  A safe and accessible play area will be inclusive for all children and offer a range of play experiences to children with varying abilities. It will help to create opportunity for social development and interaction while promoting physical health for all students. 

   • Plan the construction logistics around safety for the students, staff, and community members while the site is owner-occupied. The construction logistics will be planned and executed with the safety of students, staff, and the community as the top priority. All safety protocols and procedures will take place to allow for the school to remain safely occupied during construction. Safety protocols and procedures will continue to be monitored throughout the life of the project.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority ("MSBA") is a quasi-independent government authority created to reform the process of funding capital improvement projects in the Commonwealth’s public schools. The MSBA strives to work with local communities to create affordable, sustainable, and energy efficient schools across Massachusetts.

The MSBA, which has a dedicated revenue stream of one penny of the state’s 6.25-percent sales tax, is collaborating with municipalities to equitably invest in finding the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe, sound, and sustainable learning environments.

The MSBA has made more than $16.7 billion in reimbursements to cities, towns, and regional school districts for school construction projects. Instead of waiting years for reimbursement, districts now receive payments from the MSBA as costs are incurred, usually within 15 days of submitting a request through the MSBA’s online Pro-Pay System. 

In June of 2021, the Town of North Andover and the North Andover Public School District submitted a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the MSBA for the Kittredge Elementary School to be considered for their core program.  The MSBA core program is where MSBA provides reimbursement for cities, towns, and regional school districts, to complete a feasibility study, schematic design phase, and local funding vote process to see if the residents of the project will approve to pay a portion of the remaining project costs (MSBA provides reimbursement in real-time for the remaining project costs) to guide it through the rest of design, permitting, contractor bidding, construction, and project closeout.    

In March of 2022, the MSBA Board of Directors approved the Kittredge Elementary School SOI into the MSBA Eligibility Period.  The Kittredge Elementary School’s SOI was competing against 58 other SOI’s to get into the MSBA core program, and it was 1 of 17 schools accepted.  This competition between schools consists of MSBA staff performing site visits to all 58 schools to gauge which of the schools are most in-need for the project.

In June of 2023, after the $900K Feasibility Study budget was approved by the North Andover residents in the Spring, the Kittredge Elementary School project was approved by the MSBA to continue on into the Feasibility Study phase.  Per the Feasibility Study agreement with the MSBA, the MSBA reimburses the Town for eligible, approved costs for the project’s Feasibility Study at a reimbursement rate percentage of 49.53% with the total MSBA reimbursement not exceeding $445,770. 

Per the Feasibility Study agreement with MSBA, the project team is required to achieve a Project Scope and Budget Agreement (PSBA) with the MSBA 913 days from invitation into the Feasibility Study phase, which was June 21, 2023, so December 19, 2025 is the deadline to achieve a PSBA with MSBA.

From there, the project would move into the MSBA Module 5 – Funding the Project, in which the local vote process would ensue to see if the North Andover residents are in favor of advancing the project into the rest of design, bidding, construction and project closeout.

The Town Meeting Vote for the project is currently expected to be included in the Town’s annual Spring Town Meeting in 2026.  

There is not a project specific Facebook page for the Kittredge Elementary School building project. However, project updates will be posted to the Town of North Andover’s Facebook page which can be found here. 

The Building Committee meeting minutes are located within the project webpage as a link titled “Meeting Minutes” at the top of the webpage.  You can also view the Building Committee meeting minutes here.

For context, part of the feasibility study process required by the MSBA is to study alternative project sites.  In the event it’s chosen to have the Kittredge Elementary School project on the existing site, the design options studied will be developed with the safety of the students, staff, and community in the forefront.  

The construction logistics and construction phasing planning is high-level during the Feasibility Study and Schematic Design phase but detailed enough to ensure the schemes studied can be safely constructed while the Town is still occupying the existing school and property.  If the project is approved by the MSBA and the Town to move forward, the construction logistics and construction phasing planning with be further refined to a level that contractors bidding the project will truly understand the intricacies of executing the construction of the project in a highly safe manner while the property is owner-occupied.  Some examples of these intricacies are:

• • Construction separation from owner-occupied areas via construction fencing.

  • Vehicular separation between school vehicular traffic and construction vehicular traffic via separate entrances or construction “black-out” times.

  • Approval from the Police and Fire Departments on the construction fencing layout and overall construction site arrangement to ensure they are able to continue to provide their public safety operations on the owner-occupied site during the construction phase, and continued communication with Police and Fire Depts. as needed throughout the construction process to ensure they continue to not have any safety concerns. 

  • Dust control via watering the site as required.

  • CORI checks of all contractors that will be working on the site.

  • Knowledge of the school’s schedule to limit noise disruptions during testing periods, etc.

  • Communication between the construction team and the Kittredge ES Administration so the staff can be prepared with the understanding of what will be happening on the construction site, as well as having that pathway to communicate with each other as things pop up.  

The above strategies are utilized on the current North Andover Middle School Addition / Renovation project, the past Thomson Elementary School project, Sargent Elementary School project, and North Andover High School project, as well as a multitude of other school projects on owner-occupied sites.  These strategies all play a role in making it possible to safely execute a school construction project while the site is owner-occupied. 

MSBA projects have a total of 9 Modules, and we are currently in Module 3.

The project has just completed Module 2, Forming the Project Team. The Owner’s Project Manager has been procured - Colliers Project Leaders, and the Design Team has been selected – Machado Silvetti. 

We are now moving into Module 3, which is the Feasibility Study Phase. During this phase, the district and its team will start moving forward with the design process. They will collaborate with the MSBA to document their educational program, generate an initial space summary, document existing conditions, establish design parameters, develop and evaluate alternatives, and recommend the most cost effective and educationally appropriate preferred solution to the MSBA Board of Directors for their consideration. The Owner's Project Manager will submit on behalf of the District and its Designer, a Preliminary Design Program and a Preferred Schematic Report. Approval by the MSBA Board of Directors is required for all projects to proceed into schematic design (Module 4).

After Module 3 is completed, we would then move into Module 4, the Schematic Design Phase. The district and its team, in collaboration with the MSBA, will develop a detailed schematic design that will establish the scope, budget and schedule for the project. The MSBA then generates a Project Scope and Budget Agreement that documents the project scope, budget, schedule, and MSBA financial participation that will be sent to the MSBA Board of Directors for their consideration. Approval by the MSBA Board of Directors is required for all projects in order for the MSBA to enter into a Project Scope and Budget Agreement and a Project Funding Agreement with the District.

The Kittredge Elementary School Building Committee member list can be found here.