By Seth Daniel
The outside of the new Clark Avenue Middle School.
The new year in January will bring a whole new way of learning at the Clark Avenue Middle School when students return on Jan. 4 to a brand new school – entering the new wing of the school while the second phase of the project continues to progress over the next 18 months.
The Clark Avenue is currently halfway done, with the southern wing completed and ready for students to enter on Jan. 4.
“We are extremely excited,” said Supt. Mary Bourque. “It’s a little bittersweet to leave the old Clark Avenue School, but at the same time we are very excited to go to the new building…Jan. 4 is going to be a day of curiosity for the students and a bit overwhelming as a middle school student moving into a totally new building.”
The building is outfitted with the best modern technology and design, and it certainly an upgrade in learning opportunities from what was once the old Chelsea High School. Several officials who have toured the facility said it was beautiful and much more advance than even the current Chelsea High School, which is only 20 years old.
Before leaving the old school, students put their handprints on the walls with paint, and wrote messages on the old walls saying things like, “Good Bye Old School; We Love You.”
Bourque said abatement measures in the old wing will begin in January, and demolition of the final, old wing facing Clark Avenue would start in the spring and go into the summer.
“We still have another 18 month phase two to complete,” said Bourque. “We are only halfway there.”
Several school and City officials are expected to accompany students on Jan. 4 as they enter the school for the first time.