Plans approved for elementary schools; all three will be one level

May 22, 2024

NORTH PROVIDENCE – The School Committee has approved schematic designs for construction of three new elementary schools. The plans are now off to the Rhode Island Department of Education for review.

At last Wednesday’s meeting, several details about the elementary school building project were presented.

Three of the main topics of discussion were:

• Uniformity between the schools;

• The location of the new schools;

• And bus, car and pedestrian traffic.

“We’ve developed commonalities among all three projects that you should be aware of,” said Philip Conte, president and CEO of StudioJAED.

The first commonality is that Centredale, Greystone and Whelan schools will all be one level.

LeftField Senior Project Manager Chris Spiegel said a one-story building is most efficient and cost effective, both in terms of initial building and maintenance.

“If we don’t have a basement, we don’t have to dig into the ground and potentially uncover unsuitable soils, or lead, which is very common throughout this area, which would require drilling and maybe even blasting,” Spiegel explained.

A one-story building eliminates the need for elevators, which he said are expensive to purchase, install and maintain long-term.

Another commonality among the three schools will be design and materials. Spiegel told the committee that with these new schools, the goal is to create equity, which begins with all schools having the same construction style, scale and materials.

Conte said each school will have a separate gym and cafeteria, multiple small group instruction rooms, dedicated spaces for special education students, and high-performance building systems, which will ultimately help to improve air quality, technology and security.

Though each school will slightly differ based on needs and circumstances, the layout is expected to be similar: a U-shaped building with grades K-3 on one side of the school and the 4th- and 5th-grade classrooms on the other side.

All preschools will be located in Greystone, and Greystone will also have what officials described as an “intensive academic space.”

Supt. Joseph Goho said that having all preschoolers at one school will also help to save on transportation costs.

In terms of location, each new school will be directly next to the existing building. Conte said the shortest distance between the new and old school, at least for Whelan Elementary, will be about 25 feet.

“Students and staff will remain on site during construction. There are benefits to that as well as some challenges. It’s going to require some planning and logistical considerations, coordination between the school department and the town,” said Conte.

“The mayor’s office has performed an in-depth review of all plans,” said Spiegel, who also mentioned that there is another scheduled presentation for the Town Council next month. Additionally, Conte said that there will be a meeting with the fire and police departments.

Once all construction is completed on the new schools, officials said that the current schools will be demolished, and could potentially be used as parking lots.

Minimizing car and bus traffic jams and getting vehicles off the road is a priority with building these schools, said Conte. At all three schools, there will be separate bus and car lanes to make drop off and pick up as smooth and safe as possible.

Since the committee approved the schematic design, the plan will be submitted for approval from RIDE by Sept. 4. RIDE will then review the plan and return with questions. Next steps include further design development and cost estimation; the school construction bond is for $125 million.

“It is a very difficult construction environment; we will at some point in this project have to look at the buildings and see what are our needs, what are our wants, so we can bring the projects in on budget. Right now, we’re in good shape but I don’t want to leave this committee with a false assumption that we’re going to get absolutely, 100 percent everything we want,” Spiegel told the committee.

Spiegel did say, however, that as of now, the high school administration building project is running about $2 million under budget. If that project continues to run below budget, that extra money could go toward the elementary schools.

Spiegel told The Breeze that North Providence residents may see increased activity at the elementary schools as officials continue to perform due diligence on the three sites to analyze potential risks and identify cost savings opportunities to maximize the value of the program.

Any findings are then brought before the School Building Committee, which includes Mayor Charles Lombardi and Goho, as well as other members of the Mayor’s office, Town Council, and the School Committee.

Goho described the level of cooperation and coordination between all branches of government pertaining to this project as “truly remarkable” and “unprecedented.”

“The School Committee, Town Council and mayor’s office are all working together with the best interest of kids, families, and taxpayers at the forefront. The end result is that in two to three years, North Providence will likely end up with the finest educational facilities in Rhode Island, and maybe throughout New England, for a fraction of the cost,” Goho said.

“This is a win for our students who will be educated in grades pre-K through 12 in state of the art facilities, and it is also a win for residents and taxpayers who will benefit from owning property and living in a town with world class educational facilities and the neighborhood school concept maintained,” he added. “The future is truly very bright for North Providence.”

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