What's New In Framingham Public Schools For 2019-20?

FRAMINGHAM, MA — It's the most wonderful time of the year — for parents at least, kids may want a little extra time for summer. As the school year gears up, many parents are looking forward to the daily routine coming back to the kids lives, but plenty of changes have been made while they were away. Here are some of the big ones to keep in mind:

Fuller Middle School Building Project In Full Swing

Framingham is on it's way to having a brand new middle school in the district, kicking off the construction for the new Fuller Middle School early this summer. Officials broke ground on the school in June, lining up the ceremony with student's last day of school. The groundbreaking came six months after voters in the city overwhelmingly approved a debt exclusion for the city's part of the $98.3 million building project.

The new school design includes a centralized cafeteria and an auditorium with 420 seats. The building will be three stories tall with air conditioning and larger classrooms. The gym of the new middle school will be 8,300-square-feet. The new Fuller Middle School will be done by the 2021-2022 school year.

McCarthy Has A New Playground With Help From The Community

Fuller isn't the only school getting a facelift. McCarthy has a brand new playground that was assembled in just three days by community and school members this summer. McCarthy's playground in the front of the school was removed to make way for a new parent pick-up and drop-off lane, the old one interfered with Fuller Middle School construction. Instead of dipping into district funds for the new playground, the district applied for a grant with KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids.

More than 200 volunteers helped build the playground and over 150 cubic yards of mulch were moved, three pallets of concrete were mixed and several smaller projects were accomplished within the larger playground: four benches and a gaga pit were built, four hacienda gardens were planted and dozens of volunteers sweat through their free t-shirts.

McCarthy is also getting its oak trees replanted by the district after many died from an issue known as "oak mortality." The replanting will start in the fall but could go into the spring. The trees being planted in front of the school will primarily be oak and maple trees and the parks and recreation department hopes to bring a new aesthetic to McCarthy's entrance with the new landscape.

New Principals At Framingham Elementary And Middle Schools

Some personnel changes over the summer are starting the school year off with new and interim principals at two district schools. Fuller Middle School Principal Jose Duarte left the district this summer, leaving an interim principal to lead the school. King Elementary school is also welcoming a new principal.

Fuller Middle School principal Jose Duarte will not return to the school this year. The district announced this month that Duarte accepted a leadership position in another district. Kerry Wood, current Assistant Director of Secondary Education, will become the Interim Principal at Fuller Middle School, the district said.

The district didn't have to go far to find the new principal of King Elementary School. Marguerite Lackard was named King's new principal — Lackard serves as a Mathematics Department Head and teacher at Walsh Middle School and is a long-time Framingham resident. Lackard has been teaching in Walsh Middle School for almost 20 years.

Calendar Changes To Public School Holiday

Framingham's School Committee debated switching the calendar name for Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day for months and came to a compromise in January, with the new title taking affect in the 2019-20 school calendar. The holiday will be listed as "Columbus/Indigenous People's Day" on the school calendar and students will still have no school.

The topic of changing the holiday name was brought to the school committee by School Committee Vice chair Gloria Pascual, who also heads the Racial Equity subcommittee, after members of the public discussed it in her subcommittee meetings. Both Pascual and School Committee member Tracey Bryant had cited the inclusion of Native Americans as part of the American History narrative in past meetings as reasons to switch the holiday. At a January School Committee meeting, the committee rejected the proposal to switch the names completely and instead added Indigenous People to the current name- observing both as a combined holiday.

Between back to school shopping and keeping up with the changes in the district, it can be hard to remember those important dates on the school calendar. Don't worry, Patch has you covered with the key dates for the school year and a look at the Framingham Public School calendar.