(Daily Hampshire Gazette) Camilia Garcia remembers thinking that the school her daughter attended not long ago, the now-demolished William R. Peck Middle School, felt like a “jail.”
But on Tuesday night Garcia found herself joining other parents and city and state officials touring a new $85.5 million school — the home of the Phoenix, the school’s new mascot — that officially replaced the old and decrepit relic from the 1970s.
“Now it’s so beautiful. The light of the sun can come in, and the color is so beautiful,” she said, walking through the sleek hallways of the school now serving about 550 students in grades six through eight.
This behind me is a final product in meeting the needs of our middle schoolers,” Mayor Joshua Garcia said ahead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony and school tour attended by Democratic state legislators Sen. John Velis and Rep. Patricia Duffy, other local officials, and Maria Puopolo, director of external affairs of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).
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Officials announced Tuesday that the project, approved in June 2023 by the city and MSBA and constructed over a two-year period, has come in about 10% underbudget. The city is responsible for paying approximately $27.1 million of that total, with the state footing some $58.4 million.
Peck is part of MSBA’s Model School Program, which seeks to mirror the design of successful, recently constructed schools. Among features of these schools are construction of a gym and cafeteria that can be used by the community.
Peck is also one of the first new schools in Massachusetts to be built under the state’s new energy code designed to improve energy efficiency and align with the state’s greenhouse gas-emission limits.
Discussions for building a new middle school began in 2013 and took a dozen years to come to fruition. Duffy, using crutches due to an injured leg, said she was compelled to attend Tuesday’s ceremony to witness the finished project. She praised all those who have been involved in the process over the years.
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Velis used his minute at the podium to praise the MSBA, saying that states across the country don’t have resources to build new schools like Massachusetts does. Instead, communities often have to finance new schools on their own.
“I cannot think of a better example of local government, state government, and the community getting together for a greater cause,” said Velis.