SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECT UPDATES

The Town of Wilmington and Wilmington Public Schools have partnered with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to consider options to replace the Wildwood Early Childhood Center that may include new construction or school consolidation. The input of our community throughout this process is important as we seek to shape the future of education in Wilmington for decades to come. For more information, initiative details are available on the district website at the Wildwood Building Project page.

The Wildwood Early Childhood Center project is an exciting opportunity for the community of Wilmington to experience the benefits of a state-of-the-art 21st Century learning environment for its early learners. Wilmington School District is partnered with the Massachusetts School Building Authority in its “Core Program”. Wilmington and MSBA have identified possible enrollments for the project:

• PK-K: 130+ students (Wildwood Early Childhood Center)
• PK-3: 510+ students (Wildwood ECC, Woburn Street)
• PK-5: 755+ students (Wildwood ECC, Woburn Street, North Intermediate)

In partnering with the MSBA, the Wildwood ECC project has several modules to complete prior to design development of a preferred option. The graphic below outlines the process for the Core Program. Each module serves as a checkpoint with the MSBA prior to proceeding into the subsequent phase. To date we have completed Module 1- Eligibility Period and Module 2 - Forming the Project Team. We are currently in Module 3 - Feasibility Study which is comprised of two parts, Preliminary Design Program (PDP) and Preferred Schematic Report (PSR). We anticipate Module 3 will take 16 months to complete with submission to the MSBA in April 2024.

In the Preliminary Design Program phase, the intent is to identify the existing building deficiencies and define the programmatic, functional, spatial, and environmental goals to meet the District’s educational program.

The purpose of the Preferred Schematic Report phase is to evaluate option alternatives and substantiate and document the District’s selection and recommendation of a preferred solution.

After the Preferred Schematic Report is submitted, the District, Dore + Whittier (Designer) and SMMA (OPM) will appear before the MSBA Board of Directors at a scheduled Board Meeting to approve the Wildwood ECC project to proceed into Schematic Design.

During the four months of Schematic Design, the District and its team will develop a robust schematic design of sufficient detail to establish the scope, budget and schedule for the proposed project. The MSBA generates a Project Scope and Budget Agreement that documents the project scope, budget, schedule and MSBA financial participation to forward to the MSBA Board of Directors for their approval.

Cost estimating is performed at each of these reporting milestones and the cost estimates are included together with other financial documentation like cash flows, project budgets, and local actions documentation.

The Wildwood School Building Committee meets monthly to review progress and provide feedback throughout the process. These meetings are open to the public and all agendas and related meeting documents (e.g. presentations, minutes, etc.) are posted on the project website at Wildwood Building Project.

Tentative Scheduled Meeting Dates:

• September 20, 2023
• October 18, 2023

• November 8, 2023
• December 13, 2023
• January 10, 2024
• February 7, 2024
• March 6, 2024
• March 20, 2024
• April 3, 2024
• May 1, 2024
• June 5, 2024

Community Meetings will be scheduled at key milestones as the Preliminary Design Program is developed and leading up to its final formulation and submission of the PSR to the MSBA in April of 2024.

• Existing facilities assessments of the three elementary schools (Wildwood ECC, Woburn Street and North Intermediate)
• Demographics Study of the Town of Wilmington
• School Principal and Key Staff Interviews
• Prep for Visioning Workshops with the Wilmington Schools community

Look-ahead: Work to be Performed in Fall of 2023

Visioning is a critical component in this process as it shapes the future for education in the Wilmington community. No school is identical to another in its culture or its design. Visioning activities allow interested participants and stakeholders of the school district, staff members, students, parents and the larger community to personalize the school facility with features that would make the student learning experience enhanced and enriched. In between the first set of Visioning Sessions, there will be tours set up of elementary schools chosen from other communities with characteristics that will demonstrate goals Wilmington is working to achieve in its new Wildwood School.

Visioning Sessions are scheduled as follows:

1. Visioning Session 1: District-Wide Planning – September 19, 2023

1. Visioning Session 2: Learning and Teaching – September 26, 2023
2. Visioning Session 3: Overall Planning – October 17, 2023
3. Visioning Session 4: Individual Space Planning – October 24, 2023

Information gathered during visioning will inform the development of the Educational Program Narrative and Preliminary Space Summaries that we submit to the MSBA at the end of PDP. All are welcome and encouraged to participate in visioning, see attached flyer.

The Wildwood School Building Committee meetings are held in-person at Wilmington High School, 159 Church Street, LGIR #1-062 (unless otherwise noted).

• September 20, 2023