The proposed designs for the middle-high school in #MiddletownRI are coming together, featuring a safe, healthy and inspiring design both inside and out.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com 
PROPOSED SCHOOL DESIGNS COMING TOGETHER
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (OCTOBER 2, 2023) – The latest designs for a new middle-high school are available now.
According to the renderings, the entrance for the middle school would be on the first floor on Aquidneck Avenue side of the proposed building, with the doorways to the high school on the second floor off Turner Road.
Throughout, HMFH and DBVW architects as well as project leaders Colliers International laid out the school to maximize the ability to share spaces, but in a way to keep the grade 6-8 and 9-12 student populations completely separate in the same 200,000-square-foot building.
This allows Middletown to get the best building possible packed with educational enhancements, but at a lower cost for planning, design and construction if two schools were built or renovations done to the existing facilities. That’s because the state Department of Education (RIDE) is expected to pay 55 percent of the project costs, reimbursements that will save Middletown tens of millions of dollars over other options.
With the Nov. 7 special election five weeks away, the item was one of several on the docket for the Town Council’s meeting Monday night in Town Hall.
“We remain on time and on budget with the project,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said. “There’s quite a bit of outreach going on right now so our residents get the best, most accurate information about the bond for the Nov. 7 special election."
While everyone connected to the school bond effort continues to emphasize the layout of the proposed building remains a work in progress, the plans from HMFH, DBVW and Colliers present the clearest picture yet of the new school, both inside and out.
Project leaders have also emphasized throughout that Middletown will deliver on everything pledged in the Nov. 7 bond and not repeat the mistakes of some other communities, which have returned a shell of what was promised in their school initiatives.
According to an overview, the three story middle school would be on the northwestern most part of the building, with the four story high school along the south.
A mix of new and existing athletic field spaces and parking lots would be create, all designed to make better use of the acreage on existing Gaudet campus, improve stormwater runoff and other advantages.
Inside the school at the heart of the building, there are separate cafeterias for the middle school and high school, with one kitchen for economies of scale. There’s also an auditorium and stage space, 12,000-square-foot gymnasium, weight room and alternative physical education space and a 3,800-square-foot library and media center, among other amenities.
The high school wing of the structure also includes new Career Pathway classrooms, dedicated project areas, an outdoor classroom, private guidance and counseling areas as well as flexible learning spaces. Flexibility, open, healthy, inviting, safe classrooms and learning spaces would also be a focal point of the middle school wing.
Contrary to the beliefs of some, the School Building Committee is leading the effort for Middletown — not the school administration — an arrangement that will remain in place should the $190 million bond be approved.
That volunteer board has decades of experience in the field and meets bi-weekly with HMFH, DBVW and Colliers to guide the latest with the project. The building committee’s next meeting is Oct. 11 at 5 pm in the Oliphant administration building.
Additional public tours of the schools are planned over the next several weeks. At Middletown High, tours are slated for Oct. 10, 20 and 25 at 2 pm from the main office of the Valley Road building, with Gaudet tours available on Oct. 11 and 12 at 2:45 pm from the main office of the Aquidneck Avenue school.
The new middle-high school is the centerpiece of a multistep effort to remake the Middletown school system and its facilities. That includes:
- Remodeling Middletown High into a grade 2-5 learning center, with more space for teachers along with new offices for the school district administration and maintenance staff.
- Renovations to the Forest Avenue School, transforming that building into the prekindergarten through first grade early learning center for the community. It would be the first time Middletown offered prekindergarten as a town, something now handled by private services or in the home.
- Making the Reservoir Road building now home to Aquidneck Elementary School a community center, something Middletown presently lacks.
- Closing the Oliphant administration building and bringing new affordable housing to that Oliphant Lane site.
While project backers have said they’d love to redo all the town’s schools at once, Middletown’s independent financial experts — Hilltop Securities — have said there’s not the bandwidth to make that happen. See https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/9044/NYCU-55 for more about that report.
Besides the additional expense of “Band Aid” repairs to Middletown’s schools should the bond not be approved, the architects have said there would be major disruptions to learning. That’s because students would need to be displaced to temporary classroom trailers while remodeling work was under way.
November 2021 independent findings said about $190 million in repairs were required to Middletown’s schools before a wall or ceiling was opened to bring them to current educational standards.
Problems identified included outdated systems, poor air circulation, asbestos tiling removal, Americans With Disabilities Act improvements and other issues. To view that information, visit https://mdl.town/Report online. A subsequent report from the state backed that report. Go to https://mdl.town/FCI to check out that document.
Numbers from the town’s finance offices indicate the bond would cost the median Middletown homeowner about $2 a day if it’s approved. To see a detailed report on the projected tax impacts, visit https://mdl.town/TaxImpact online.
If all goes according to plan, groundbreaking for the project would be in the spring of 2025, with opening planned for the fall of 2027.
The council has an informational forum scheduled for Oct. 16 at 6 pm in Town Hall, with the a similar session planned by the School Committee on Oct. 19 at 4:30 pm in the Oliphant administration building.
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/9506/NYCU-Design
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