Arlington is in the middle of a multi-year capital campaign to comprehensively rebuild the older and too-small High School on Mass Ave. Construction has just started in May, during the stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19.
Even with the press coverage and many discussions on the Arlington List around the project, it’s still difficult to follow along, especially to find official documentation and plans, rather than just rumors or speculation.
Here’s a keylist of useful resources - either town committees, town budgets/finance, news sites or ACMI coverage, or other groups or blogs.
- Official AHS Rebuild Project Page
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Official APS homepage for the AHS Rebuild project. Includes a calendar of committee meetings, construction plans and updates, budget information, and more.
- Town Government Committee on AHS Rebuild
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Official town committee overseeing various parts of the AHS rebuild; includes calendar and agendas for their meetings.
- Official Design Documents
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Town committee page detailing the actual planned design, including link to source documents of design in coordination with MSBA state agency.
- APS Official Budget Information
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School department overall budget page, including actual budgets from past years, and detailed financial reporting in some cases.
- APS Budget Visualization
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ClearGov provides a great visualization of the APS budget, staffing levels, student enrollment, and more - all from official town or state source data.
- Official Costing Background Page
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High-level descriptions of the cost, including some links to source documents for actual budget figures for the project.
- Official Facebook Page for AHS Rebuilding
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If you prefer Facebook, follow this page for official updates from the town committee for the AHS Rebuild.
- MSBA Statement On Coronavirus Funding Issues
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The MSBA commits to continuing pre-approved funding for building projects, including AHS; however they note that additional funding due to any Coronavirus issues is not available from MSBA.
- Sitework for construction of new AHS: Week of May 4 | Your Arlington (article)
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4-May-2020
Coverage of construction breaking ground on the AHS rebuild; fences up and construction hours expected.
- Your Arlington | School administrators propose $82.8M budget for fiscal '21 (article)
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17-Feb-2020
Coverage of the FY21 budget planning and some notes on rebuild status and how plans affect other facilities.
- Your Arlington | Work on AHS rebuild to begin this month (article)
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5-Feb-2020
Coverage of the recent committee meeting on the start of the rebuild project; includes links to past AHS Rebuild stories.
- Your Arlington's Feed of all School News
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Your Arlington is a local online newspaper; this is their feed of all school-related articles (AHS or otherwise).
- Local Cable Channel Coverage of AHS Rebuild
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Our local cable channel ACMi has covered a number of past meetings and stories about the AHS rebuild planning process.
- ACMi Recordings of School Committee
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Most School Committee formal meetings are recorded and broadcast on ACMi, they’re also saved so you can go back and watch.
- School-related stories from Wicked Local / Advocate
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The other local paper’s coverage of school related topics, semi-regularly updated. Paywall (only a few free articles a month, unless you subscribe).
- Arts Arlington Supports AHS Rebuild
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The Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture group wrote in June 2019 confirming their support for the AHS Rebuild due to the additional ways the design supports arts & culture.
- Citizen Group For Saving Historical AHS Facade
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A citizen’s group that advocated for maintaining the historical facade and front green space of the AHS. (Current building plans do not incorporate this).
- Arlington Was A MA DOE Green Ribbon Winner
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Arlington’s schools won a green ribbon award in 2018 for green-focused planning.