Facilities Master Plan
The district has embarked on an ambitious project to review our school buildings and develop a plan for our long-term future. We are joined in this work by CannonDesign, a national architecture and planning firm with deep experience in PreK-12 education. The stakeholder group working closely with CannonDesign is the District Planning Committee (DPC); see below for a list of members. At the end of this process, the district will have a comprehensive Facilities Master Plan.
Our commitments
The process for developing the Facilities Master Plan will be both inclusive and transparent.
The DPC will develop guiding principles, use objective data, and incorporate stakeholder voice.
Students, parents/guardians, educators, School Committee members, district administrators, and town officials will all be represented in the group.
Read the final report prepared by CannonDesign and presented to School Committee on 1/25/24.
Stay tuned for next steps in this exploratory process!
DPC Session 1 takeaways
PVRSD facilities will:
be healthy and safe;
promote rich experiences and joy;
foster student choice and agency;
embrace nature
be connected to the community
FMP Timeline and Process
Key steps
12/15/22 SC approves development of Request for Proposals for FMP (memo)
12/28/22 FRCOG issues Request for Qualifications on behalf of District
2/15/23 SC approves FY24 budget, with FMP as one of three major priorities (slides)
5/11/23 SC reviews and approves contract with CannonDesign (video, contract)
7/20/23 Update on FMP process to SC (memo)
7/21/23 Invitation to join District Planning Committee (newsletter, invite to own officials)
12/14/23 CannonDesign makes final recommendation to SC (slides, video)
12/15/23 Paul Mills of CannonDesign meets wi. town officials and staff (invite to town officials)
Community Forums and surveys
9/18/23 Community Forum #1 (slides, video, newsletter, invite to town officials)
11/2/23 Community Forum #2 (slides, video, newsletter, invite to town officials)
9/19/23 Community Survey #1 (newsletter)
11/2/23 Community Survey #2 (newsletter)
District Planning Committee workshops
8/9/23 District Planning Committee: Workshop #1 (slides)
10/14/23 District Planning Committee: Workshop #2 (slides, newsletter)
12/5/23 District Planning Committee: Workshop #3 (slides)
CannonDesign Presentations to School Committee
9/14/23 CannonDesign presentation #1 (slides, video)
10/26/23 CannonDesign presentation #2 (slides, video)
12/14/23 CannonDesign presentation #3 (slides, video)
CannonDesign Reports
12/14/23 Facilities Condition Assessments: BES, NES, PVRS, and portfolio report
1/25/24 CannonDesign: Final written report to School Committee
Read these reports to learn more about the assessments completed on our buildings.
The reports outline maintenance needs that will need to be addressed over the next 10 years, along with projected costs.
What is a Facility Master Plan?
A Facilities Master Plan is a planning document that:
identifies and prioritizes capital improvement projects;
informs critical decisions around facilities use; and,
analyzes fundamental district operations, such as educational programs and grade configurations, and their relationship to school size, location, and facility needs.
What does the process look like?
The District Planning Committee (DPC) will meet five times over a four month period, from early August through early December. These five gatherings include three meetings of the DPC, along with two Community Forums.
At these forums, the community at large will provide input into Facilities Master Plan goals and priorities, as well as review proposed plan options. The community will have additional opportunities to provide feedback through online surveys. We will advertise the forums widely to generate as much participation as possible.
At the conclusion of the process, CannonDesign, with close consultation of the DPC, will make independent recommendations to the School Committee
What did the District Planning Committee do?
reviewed baseline data related to facilities and student demographics data;
analyzed the results of two community surveys;
developed draft options for long-term operational and capital plans;
developied ideas that build from community input; and,
gave input to CannonDesign regarding their final recommendations to District and Town leadership.
School Committee
Reina Dastous, Chair, Northfield
Michele Giarusso, Leyden
District Administration
Patricia Kinsella, Superintendent, Co-Chair
Jordan Burns, Director of Finance & Operations, Co-Chair
Nancy Parlakulas, Director of Student Services
Kate Messmer, Director of Teaching & Learning
Gretchen Licata, Director of Facilities
Maren Law, Early Childhood Coordinator
Cindy Schultz, BES Principal
Krissy Schreiber, NES Principal
Matt Sullivan, PVRS Principal
Town Officials
Brian Keir, Bernardston Select Board
Andrea Llamas, Northfield Town Administrator
Educators/Staff
Danika Tyminski, PVRS
Joshua Freund, PVRS
Jordan Cummings, Env. Educator
Families
Shane Duclos, PVRS
Magan MacDougall-Goulding, NES
Students
Calla McKeon, PVRS
Lex Singh, PVRS
Restoration Ecologist
John Lepore