The new Chapman Middle School, which will open to students this coming fall, is the largest middle school in Massachusetts and supports a unique curriculum centered around exploratory labs that act as a feeder for the high school’s career technical programs. HMFHers James Liebman, Sara Rosenthal and Matt LaRue led a comprehensive a tour showcasing the school’s exciting new spaces including the Town Square, a central dining area shaped by the volumes of the school’s exploratory labs; the new auditorium, which will support Weymouth’s robust theater arts program; and neighborhood collaborative areas that serve as shared, flexible space for learning outside of the classroom.

Our next stop was to visit Phase I of the new Arlington High School. Arlington team members Stephanie MacNeil and Alan Pemstein led tours of the new STEAM and performing arts wings, highlighting prominent features including an expansive lobby with bold graphic signage, light-filled classrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a multi-story lightwell that draws natural light deep within the footprint of the STEAM wing. While students enjoy the state-of-the-art new spaces in the STEAM and performing arts wings, construction continues on the remaining phases, which include the central spine, cafeteria, library, courtyard, and athletics wing.