Ribbon Cutting celebrates completion of Sharon High School project
School Committee member Julie Rowe marked the finish of the new Sharon High School with the snip of a ribbon Friday, Aug. 25, as residents, staff, students and officials cheered.
The ceremony held at the school marked the end of the $163 million project. Officials, including Mary Pichetti, deputy chief executive officer/executive director for the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), thanked all those who helped make the project a reality while images of the school construction filled the large display screen in the school’s new auditorium.
“These spaces set the stage to allow Sharon to provide the highest quality education for its students and also provide a level of flexibility for the town of Sharon to be able to be proud of for generations to come,” Pichetti said. “I especially want to commend the community for demonstrating their commitment to their children by voting to support this new school investing not only in current students but also to deliver a 21st century education for future students.”
School Committee Chair Avi Shemtov praised Rowe, School Committee secretary and School Committee representative to the Sharon Standing Building Committee.
“Julie believed our students deserved this building,” Shemtov said. “She fought hard for this building to become more than a dream. She convinced people like myself that a vote for the new high school was needed in order to provide the world class education that Sharon has always been and is now known for. Julie, this building is here because of you, and we all owe you a great debt of gratitude.”
Rowe, School Superintendent Peter Botelho and Matt Gulino of PMC Consultants, the Owner’s Project Manager, also spoke reflecting on the new school and the many who worked to make it a reality. The board and committee members involved including the School Committee and Sharon Standing Building Committee, as well as staff, parent volunteers and the entire community were thanked for their support.
As Rowe described the effort - “All of the many hours of work of many people.”
The town was also presented with a citation of congratulations from the Massachusetts Senate by state Sen. Paul Feeney’s office.
Following the Ribbon Cutting in the school lobby, Sharon High School students took community members on tours of the school.
The Sharon High School project received approximately $50 million in reimbursement from the MSBA. The actual amount is subject to the MSBA final audit. The remainder of the project was funded by a debt exclusion approved by Sharon voters in November 2019.
Construction began in the fall of 2020. The new school opened for classes in August 2022 while site work continued on athletics fields, tennis courts, a bus loop, parking lots and traffic lanes over the past year.
The new high school has capacity for more than 1,200 students in grades 9-12 and includes 42 academic classrooms, teacher planning spaces, small group seminar rooms, 12 science classrooms/labs, 12 prep spaces, 18 special education spaces, 12 art/music spaces, and 11 tech/engineering spaces.
You can view the ceremony on Sharon TV at this link.
