Background

The Waltham High School Building Project is the planning, design, and construction of a new, comprehensive educational facility for students in grades 9-12. Designed to accommodate 1,830 students, the new high school will provide students with access to current technologies and opportunities that do not exist within the current high school facility including integrated learning between the vocational programs and the academics programs.

Why We Need to Replace the Current High School

While substantial in size, the current high school is sprawling and inflexible and is at odds with today’s 21st century educational practices in which the school’s core curricula, departmental and vocational programs call for a more collaborative and integrated project-based approach to learning that can serve the WHS student population in the broadest possible sense.

Building condition: The current Waltham High School was built in 1968. During, the past 50 years, there have been no major renovations since its original construction. The overall building and systems are in a dated condition that does not support 21st century learning opportunities for Waltham’s students. There are 125 classrooms ranging from 730-990 square feet in the current high school. Science labs are 990 square feet and include both student seating and lab areas and were identified as outdated in the 2005 NEASC accreditation report.

Accreditation concerns: In 2005 Waltham High School was put on warning status by the New England Associates of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC). The warning related specifically to technology limitations, lack of updated science labs and handicap accessibility issues throughout the school. The Waltham School District has mitigated as many of the identified items as possible through incremental repairs, however, major items cannot be addressed without a new high school facility. In 2017 NEASC noted in its findings that the Waltham School District needs to “continue to address facility issues that inhibit high-quality programming for current students”.

Growing Student Population: The Waltham School District is experiencing unprecedented growth in its student population at all grade levels. Enrollment data for the high school student population shows growing numbers. The current high school has an enrollment of approximately 1,675 (2019-2020). The new high school will be constructed to accommodate 1,830 students allowing for documented growth patterns. Additionally, the new high school building is being designed to accommodate future expansion, as needed.

Student Learning Equity: In the current Waltham High School, many of the programs are separated and student integration is not possible, due to the limited flexibility of the layout and design. The new high school, with a thoughtful and modern approach to design, allows all students, including vocational and special education students, the opportunity to be fully integrated into all learning experiences.