In the final piece of the pledge to overhaul the schools in #MiddletownRI, major upgrades are planned to Forest Avenue School, all at a 55 percent reimbursement from the state without adding new costs to local tax bills.
FOREST AVENUE SCHOOL IN LINE FOR MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS
MIDDLETOWN, RI (MARCH 4, 2026) – When voters approved a school bond in November 2023, they were promised a sweeping overhaul to the entire district.
The Town Council is working on firming up the details on the final piece of that pledge.
On Monday night in Town Hall, the council unanimously awarded a $530,705 contract to HMFH/DBVW Architects for design services to remodel the Forest Avenue School into the community’s prekindergarten through first grade learning center.
The work by HMFH/DBVW will help solidify the price tag for those upgrades, estimated at about $6 million to address all code issues at the school — and more.
All those expenses will be covered by the $190 million bond and related existing funding sources at a 55 percent reimbursement from the state. Better yet, there is no spike in taxes for Fiscal 2027 or beyond because the cost for all the work has been built into the upcoming proposed budget and beyond.
Based on the latest financial projections brought to the council at its last two regular meetings, there’s at least $10 million in contingencies that haven’t been touched in the existing school budget.
“Forest Avenue (School) has been part of the project discussion from the beginning, it’s part of the memorandum we signed with the Department of Education and it has been the last piece to the puzzle, in a sense,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said during a council meeting last month. “We’ve always hedged conservatively of having enough money available to finish the new building and renovations to Valley Elementary School.”
“Moving beyond the bricks and mortar, this is probably the most important part of the project. I think this building actually does change things. (This school) will be a fundamental change on how we introduce people to our school district. It’s not only an opportunity for the pre-k, (kindergarteners) and ones, but it’s an opportunity for new parents to be introduced to the ‘Middletown Way’ of educating students by providing a great space for learning and growing. This is one of the things that moves the needle when we talk about outcomes for education.”
By all accounts, the Middle High School — overseen by Colliers with construction handled by Gilbane — is progressing extremely well. Slated to open in time for the start of the 2027-2028 school year, every update indicates the work is “on time and on budget.”
Every week that goes by, there’s noticeable work happening to the site just north of Gaudet Middle School at 1225 Aquidneck Avenue. For regular updates, visit the School Building Committee’s website at https://mdl.town/SBC online.
The project will give the district 211,000-square-feet of state-of-the-art schools, including 38 classrooms, 12 science labs, 15,700-square-feet of physical education space, a multi-use auditorium and more.
As that construction has been happening, the existing Middletown High School is being transformed by Bentley Builders into the Valley Elementary School, a Grade 2-5 learning center as well as administrative and maintenance offices. To read about that effort, go to https://mdl.town/NYCU-VES online.
Always part of the sweeping plan, local leaders said they’ve saved improvements for the Forest Avenue School for last for one main reason.
Not because they weren’t needed, they said, but because they wanted to make sure there was sufficient money available to do the project once and do it right.
With that in play and everything trending in the right direction, council members agreed that redoing Forest Avenue School made sense now. Especially with the fact the town would get reimbursed by the state at a 55 percent rate over three years instead of the traditional 20-year period.
The following work was expected to be included in the Forest Avenue project:
- Upgrading each of the school’s six restrooms to be more functional, age appropriate and fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
- Replacing all the windows in the school — including some dating back to 1957 — with code compliant, energy efficient units.
- Adding a new sprinkler and fire service system to the entire building.
- Mechanical improvements to the school’s HVAC system.
- Overhauling the flooring with better, moisture mitigation system on the lower level.
- Installing a full elevator to take care of students and staff.
- Renovating the existing playground for a kindergarten and first grade playspace and adding a prekindergarten play area.
- Creating a new monument sign out front.
“They (Colliers and the construction managers) have not overstretched us at all to this point and I have all the faith in the world that this will continue on the same path,” council Vice President Thomas Welch III has said. “The numbers and how this project is trending are incredible. We’re not going to derail it now. I realize maybe all the numbers aren’t out yet and we don’t have the construction costs. (The $6 million number) is a ballpark, but where we sit funding wise and our contingencies that aren’t being touched here, this is the right move. And, for all the money we spend on Forest Avenue School here, that is reimbursable. This is the time to do it.”
Unless something goes off the tracks, the plan is to have all Grade 2-5 students at the Middletown Valley School, Grades 6-8 at the Middletown Middle School and Grades 9-12 at the Middletown High School for the start of the 2027-2028 school year.
At that time, local leaders said Forest Avenue School pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and Grade 1 students, teachers and staff will be relocated temporarily to the Aquidneck Elementary School on Reservoir Road for one year.
That way, work on Forest Avenue School by Bentley Builders can take place without interrupting the teaching and learning of those youngsters. The district would also not need to bring in temporary classrooms, which can be costly and not as educationally sound.
The council is expected to receive firmer numbers in May to consider before deciding whether to move forward with the third — and final piece — of the school improvement plan approved by voters in November 2023.
While not everyone agreed, council President Paul M. Rodrigues and others noted that if the town didn’t upgrade Forest Avenue School now, it would only get more expensive and potentially cost the community educationally as well.
“If we don’t do it and just using today’s dollars, not whatever the cost could be 10 years, it’s obviously going to cost a lot more down the road,” council President Paul M. Rodrigues said.
Document Link: https://mdl.town/NYCU-FAS-Improve
About Middletown
The Town of Middletown is a vibrant municipality located on Aquidneck Island, known for its scenic beauty, historic landmarks, diverse economy and strong sense of community. For more information about all we have to offer, visit MiddletownRI.gov online.
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