Planning for the new Peabody Veterans Memorial High School is beginning to set into motion with the School Building Committee gathering for the first time Tuesday.
This comes almost a year after the Massachusetts School Building Authority chose the school for its funding program, going toward renovating some existing structures while also constructing new ones. And with many outdated systems in the current building, it’s a welcome sight for many that the gears are starting to turn on an updated PVHMS.
School Council member Beverly Griffin Dunne, who served on the building committees for Welch Elementary School and Higgins Middle School, will be bringing her experience in the matter to the PVHMS building committee.
“The MSBA has seen our two most recent projects,” she said. “I know the MSBA was pleased with what we did, they liked working with Peabody and we certainly liked working with them.”
Those two successful projects have taught Dunne a lot about what goes into the process of building a school, particularly how important it is to get a variety of voices included in the conversation. She wants to ensure students, teachers, other staff members, and parents will all get to share their thoughts on what a new PVHMS should look like in the coming months.
“We will be doing a lot of public meetings and focus group meetings to hear from the people in Peabody,” Dunne said. “Then we’ll be able to put all of that together and come up with a plan that will help to incorporate all the suggestions that people make.”
Before that can happen however, the school building committee will need to sort out a few important points, such as deciding on a project manager, architect, and construction company. For these first meetings, Dunne emphasized the importance of making sure everyone understands what goes into these decisions, explaining the process and its timeline to the members of the building committee.
Peabody residents can expect at least a two-year wait until they are able to see their new high school, but they can be confident that a lot of care is being taken in ensuring an outcome that meets their expectations.
“Everyone wants it done, I do too.” Dunne said. “But it takes time. Anybody on a project tells you, ‘Measure twice, not once,’ and they are not kidding.”
