Officials break ground for new middle school

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Green-Lanchoney
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the construction site of the new Hanscom Middle School here June 16.

Base leadership, along with congressional delegates, the Army Corps of Engineers and Town of Lincoln school officials marked the next step in the modernization of Hanscom schools.

"This project typifies quality of life," said Col. Lester Weilacher, 66th Air Base Group commander. "I can't tell you how rewarding it is for me to tell people who are being assigned here at Hanscom the caliber of education their children will receive here."

The new $34 million, 85,000-square-foot facility will accommodate more than 300 fourth-through-eighth-graders.

"Today is a celebration of the future we are building for our children," said U.S. Congresswoman Katherine Clark, who spoke at the event. "It is about accessing that 21st century education that will keep us competitive, keep us peaceful and really move our country and our local communities forward."

The new school is expected to include both indoor and outdoor learning areas, a Science Technology Engineering (art) Math-enabled classroom and an integrated building system, which will house solar panels and rainwater harvesting that can be used for teaching.

"We have been living in a building that was built in 1954 and education has changed an awful lot since then," said Erich Ledebuhr, Hanscom Middle School principal. "This new space will allow us to teach with 21st century methods."

During the two-year period that is expected to complete the project, students will be educated in temporary facilities.

"We know we are going to have a lot of students who are going to be moving in and out of Hanscom during the next couple of years, and we have put a lot of thought into our temporary facility to make sure we can maximize the use of that space and continue to provide our students the education they deserve," Ledebuhr said.

Officials expect construction of the new middle school to be complete in early 2016.

The current campus consists of two schools, a primary school for students in kindergarten through third grade and a middle school for students in fourth through eighth grade. Both schools are provided and supported entirely by the federal government, and are part of the Lincoln Public School system.

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