by Peter Caruso
One year into the construction for a new South High Community School in Worcester, the building is about 50% complete, and though construction had to be halted in early April due to Covid-19, substantial completion is scheduled for April 2021. The new school will replace the smaller school, which was built in the 1970’s and featured an open classroom design concept. The new school is being constructed only about 30 feet from the current school, which will be torn down upon completion to make way for a new turf field.
The 360,000 square foot school will include more than 60 classrooms to accommodate 1,420 students. Some of the unique features of the new school are spaces for Chapter 74 vocational programs, including a daycare, auto/diesel shop, and culinary arts program, as well as a new marketing /nonprofit management career pathway program, which operates Andy’s Attic, a nonprofit clothing distribution program.
Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Maureen Binienda said of the project, “I have the great honor of being actively involved in the building of a new South High Community School. In planning with the architects and the MSBA, I know the students who attend South High will have what they deserve – the best of everything.”
