West Elementary & Shawsheen Preschool Building Project

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West El First Day

Project Overview

The new West Elementary School is open! After many years of planning and two years of construction, including a very busy summer of completing interior work, demolition of the old West El, furniture deliveries, final building inspections and much unpacking, the new West El welcomed students for the first day of class on August 28, 2024.

We thank the many people who made this possible – staff and managers from throughout the Town of Andover and Andover Public Schools, our elected officials, our building committee, our construction team, project managers, and architects, the MSBA and the citizens of Andover. To celebrate this accomplishment, a Ribbon Cutting is planned for Friday, September 20th at 2:30 pm. All members of the public are invited to attend, and public tours of the new building will immediately follow the ceremony.

As we enter the fall of 2024, construction work will continue at the site. This includes completion of punch list items at the new West El, the building of new roadways, playing fields and parking areas where the old West El formerly stood, and completion of the Shawsheen Preschool to which we will happily welcome students and staff in August of 2025.

With the opening of the new West Elementary, there have been some changes in traffic patterns. Families dropping off or picking up their students will continue to enter school grounds from Beacon Street, as they did previously, but now will drop off or pick up in front of the new school and follow a clockwise pattern to exit onto Beacon Street. School buses will enter the site from High Plain Road, drop off or pick up students behind the new school, and exit onto Beacon Street.

For those who would like to learn more about the project, please see the information below. The FAQs and Presentations sections contain lots of useful information. If you still have questions, please contact Joel Blumstein, the Building Committee Chair, at joel.blumstein@andoverma.us.

Virtual Community Forum - August 21, 2024

Project Timeline laid out

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View of the outside of the school

FAQs

By the Numbers

 

Enrollment

1,055 students (includes Pre-K)

Building Size

191,028 SF

MSBA Max Reimbursement Rate

45.85%

Effective Reimbursement Rate

27.41%

Total Project Budget

$168,066,623

Anticipated Maximum MSBA Grant

$46,063,216

Anticipated Minimum District Share

$122,003,407

Time Lapse Videos

Module 7

7. Construction school construction is in progress with a dedicated team keeping a close eye on the budget & schedule

Overall Steps in the Process

1. ELIGIBILITY PERIOD Congratulations--your school project has been invited to continue in the MSBA pipeline! 3. FEASIBILITY STUDY Development of an MSBA-approved Preliminary Design Program & Preferred Schematic Report. $ 5. FUNDING THE PROJECT Securement of community approval, funding, and negotiation of the MSBA Project Funding Agreement. 7. CONSTRUCTION School construction is in progress with a dedicated team keeping a close eye on the budget & schedule. 2. FORMING THE PROJECT TEAM Selecting the Architect & establishing the ProPay reimbursement process. 4. SCHEMATIC DESIGN Development of a final design program & negotiation of a Project Scope & Budget Agreement with the MSBA. 6. DETAILED DESIGN Generation of construction documents, bid procurement, & awarding of a construction contract. 8. COMPLETION Project close-out includes finalizing permits & maximizing grant reimbursements.

Archived previous presentations (Module 1 - Module 4)

Meetings are live-streamed on Andover TV and may be watched on Comcast 6 and Verizon 43.

To view a previous West El & Shawsheen PreK School Building Committee meeting, click here for video archives. For previous agendas and minutes, click here. 

Committee Members

Joel Blumstein
Chairperson

Andrew Flanagan
Town Manager

Lauren Conoscenti
School Committee

Dr. Magda Parvey 
Superintendent

Janet Nicosia
Director of Facilities

Keith Taverna

Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Administration

Patrick Lawlor
Finance Director

Elizabeth Roos
Member

Carol Green
Member

Rick Almeida
Member

Mark Johnson
Member

Paul Rollins
Member

Siggy Pfendler
Member

Armata Kirpalani
Member

Owner’s Project Manager: PMA Consultants

Architect: SMMA

Construction Manager: Gilbane Building Company

Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA)