So, for those of you that have arrived on time or even a little bit early, thank you. Um, we're we're going to give folks uh another couple minutes um just to arrive and get settled. >> Those we'll get going on time or even a
little bit early. Thank you. Um we're we're gonna give folks another couple minutes um just to arrive and get settled. >> We'll get going on time or either a little bit early. Thank you. Um >> that was my fault. Just so you know,
we're live on YouTube right now, too. >> We won't have any more dramatic echoing, though. So, >> no, I muted the browser that had the YouTube stream playing. And >> thank you, Ken, for managing the technology. Very much appreciated.
Hello everyone. M again. For those of you that avoid or uh are not a not a fan of awkward silences at the beginning of meetings, uh we're going to get going here at about 4:05 um
just to let people uh file in a bit more. Um and just as a as a foreshadowing as well, um the second uh advisory team meeting is going to be happening immediately after this one for extern design on this same um zoom meeting
link. Um so we will sort of immediately switch gears afterwards. So towards the end of this one, you may see some folks uh file in um and we will try to wrap things up um right at 5:30 so that we can switch gears.
Does appear that we're getting a good critical mass here, which is very much appreciated. All right, think we're going to get going um just so we can launch in. It looks like we do have a good quantity of folks here. Um I
just want to start off by um welcoming everybody um to this uh first advisory team meeting um for the Medford High School project. Um I'm going to run through a quick agenda just so everyone understands um what the contents of the
discussion are going to be here today. Um we're going to do a little bit of an introduction um both of our own team um as well as the overall uh members of the team as well. Uh we would like for everyone to introduce themselves. Um we're going to run through what is
this advisory team process um and what does it entail as we move forward as well as what are the schedule milestones associated with it um for this particular discussion on MEP systems and sustainability. We're going to run through a couple of sustainability
givens um just so that people understand um what are the the baseline assumptions that we have to be working towards. We'll try to do that expeditiously. Um and and then we're going to be spending the majority of our time actually listening um to all the team members um
all the expert stakeholders that have gathered here today. Um really what this meeting is about is calibrating um this particular topic um to the voices of the Mefford community. Um so that's where we're going to be spending the majority of our time.
Get back to the slides. Um, so we're just going to start off um with our own introductions. Um, we'll allow the left field team uh, Arno's project manager to introduce themselves as well and then we're going to shift gears into um, the actual Medford um,
advisory team members. Um, so just to start things off, my name is Matt Rice. I am an architect principal in charge of the project for SMMA. I don't believe Helen Fantini, our project manager, is on today. She is traveling. Um but I know that um SA is
next. >> Hi, I'm Sa Jen. I'm an architectural designer here at SMA. >> All right. And Andrew, >> my name is Andrew Barrows, electrical engineer at SMA. >> I did not mention this, but I appreciate all of our team doing it, but if we
could uh please all have our cameras on as we introduce ourselves, it would be very much appreciated. Um Emily. Hi everyone. I'm Emily Aers. I'm a mechanical engineer at SMMA. >> Martin. >> So, I'm Martin Deion. I'm the
sustainable design director at SMA. I apologize. My camera is not turning on Matt. >> All right. Uh, Brenda. >> Hello everyone. Brenda Lamb. I'm a sustainable design project coordinator at SMMA.
>> Tomaso. >> Hi everybody. I'm Tomaso. partner at Trans Solar and I focus on passive design, sustainable design. I'm a climate engineer. >> All right. And James, >> uh, James Job, EAL engineering, plumbing
and fire protection engineers. >> Um, and the left field team, do we want to jump in here? Um, >> sure. >> Yep. Go ahead. >> Yeah. Uh, hello everyone. My name is Matt Galino. Uh, I'm one of the project managers for left field. uh owner's project manager.
Uh and I know I saw Jen Carlson on the call. >> Hi, Jen Carlson. I'm the project director with Leftfield, the OPM. And I think Adele >> and Adele. Yep. >> Hi, Adele Sans. I'm the education liaison for Left Field.
>> All right. Um and then I think we'll just run through the members that are listed here. Hopefully we have captured everyone that was in. Um if you are here and your name is not up there um certainly when we get to the end of the list um please feel free to chime in. We
will add you as we go if there was uh some disconnect in the process. Um and if we run through the list and um anyone is not here uh we'll just make note of that um and u make sure that they are um
clued in in terms of getting um the access to the recording of this after the fact. Um so in uh alphabetical order um it would be great also um for the team members from Medford um to really
just introduce obviously yourself um but also what your connection is to the project um just so that we can understand uh context that would be great um so we could start off with Libby and that's that's why I preface Um, I'll give everyone a second just to make sure
that the AV is working. Um, but um, >> I don't see Libby joined. >> I'm sorry, Ken. You said that she did or she did not >> as not I don't see her on the list. >> Okay, so let's keep going. Um, Sunny, >> hi. I'm Sunonny Dillard. I um I'm an
architect and sustainability leader um at an architectural firm that does mostly public schools. Uh, it's called HMFH and I am a Medford resident. I have a two-year-old, so she will um be going
to this high school. Um and so th those are my connections. >> Excellent. Um Austin. >> Hi, Austin Deetsz. Um it's also a Medford resident. Uh I have an eight-month-old who will be a bit behind uh Sunny's 2-year-old uh but will
hopefully eventually metriculate to Medford High. Um my background is in uh solar. I'm a project manager with a with a national uh developer and and owner of um commercial and large utility scale solar projects.
>> Fantastic. Um Audrey, >> hi. Sorry. Um I'm a teacher at Meford High School. I was out sick today. Um I'm a science teacher. I've been at Meford High School for 26 years. Um I'm
an environmental science teacher. I've been teaching environmental science for 24 years there. Um, so I've seen a lot and I've been in that building my entire career. And so my my goal and hope as being on this committee is to give input
on um my kind of wish list for sustainability designs and the needs for the high school based on now and the future. obviously um and based on my experience both good and bad in the current building. Um
and also to be a voice for the educators in the building, especially the science department, but really all educators um in that the day-to-day grind and the moving parts of teaching just to make sure that any input and decisions that
are made or take that into consideration cuz over the many years sometimes on paper things seem like a really good idea, but when you get into it daytoday it's not or it doesn't work as you planned or you think. So hopefully
by everyone giving input and ideas I can sort of be that voice for the main people in the building which are the educators. >> Excellent. Thank you. Um Jenny. >> Hi everyone. I'm Jenny Graham. I'm the
chair of the building committee and um the parent of two current Medford High School students who likely will not see the inside of a new building so much um maybe outside chance for Lucas and I just keep pushing all of our staff to uh
remember that he graduates in June of 2029. So um really excited to have you all here. Thank you um so much for joining. I think these um meetings will be really helpful and informative for us all. >> Great. Chris,
>> hello. Uh Chris Hogan. Um my wife and I have a son in high school and middle school, so unfortunately we'll miss it too. Um but been living in Medford for a while and very excited to contribute to this and help it uh you know, better the community.
>> Thank you. Uh Elizabeth. >> Hi everyone. Um, and special hello to Martine. Love this mini reunion. Um, I am a Medford resident uh for 23 years almost to the day. I have two high schoolers. Um, so don't expect them to
benefit from the new school either. Um, I currently run a decarbonization program under Massave and prior to that I ran CHIPS which was a national green schools organization that's now part of USGBC and um, happy to be here. Thank you for including me.
Thank you. Uh Ken. >> Hi. Good evening everyone. I am the chief operations officer for the Medford Public Schools. I'm in charge of facilities, technology, and security. So, I'm keenly interested in making sure the systems we uh put in this new building are not only sustainable, but
also easily maintained, longlasting, and provide adequate comfort and support for all of our staff. >> Thank you. Um Sarah I >> think Sarah was able to join today, Matt. She let us know that.
>> Okay, great. Thank you. Um Nicole. All right. So, this is okay actually because the less people we have, the more time everyone will get to actually share some thoughts as we go forward. So, I'm just trying to keep tabs on how many we have. Um, Jessica.
>> Hi, I'm Jessica Parks. I'm a parent to a fifth grader and um I've worked in sustainable design consulting in my previous positions and currently I am a project manager for energy efficiency
projects at MIT. >> Thank you. Um, Brenda Hi. Um, I'm the uh climate planner for the city. Um, I've been involved in HVAC and solar projects at the schools and I
do the city's energy and emissions reporting. So, any amount that we can reduce those makes me happy. >> That's great. Thank you. Uh, Luke, >> hi everyone. U Luke Fryer here. Uh, let's see. I have I have three kids in
the school system. Uh oldest is a freshman, youngest as a fifth grader. I serve on uh the Medford comprehensive high school building committee. Uh I wanted to be involved in this advisory committee. Uh I feel that sustainable energy consumption is important for
certainly environmental reasons, but there can be economic benefits um if it's done right. I know we have a lot of excitement about improving uh our energy consumption. Um and we're going to accomplish that. It's a guaranteed fact.
Um certainly there are uh guidelines uh that guarantee we'll have a more efficient structure, but um I think we're going to have some some goals to exceed uh the minimum. And uh you know getting there uh is going to involve
looking at air source and ground source heat exchange. Um but also passive elements like uh light wells and sunfacing windows. Um and we'll have to balance cost with with benefit. Uh when does break even occur? Uh if it takes 50
years then maybe it's not worth it. Um and you know certainly uh those are the kinds of things uh I'd like to have discussed. Um, so you know, my my priority here, my goal uh is to help influence the shape, orientation, and
and infrastructure of our upcoming high school in a manner that affordably hits the the best lead rating uh for the dollar. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Chris, >> hi everybody. I apologize. I am driving
right now, so my camera's off, but um I have been a uh lifelong Medford resident. Um me and my wife both attended Memphis that Memphis high school so uh I kind of know the ins and outs. Um brother and sister are both teachers. Brother is a teacher at the
high school. So I get some of that um insight on what's going on up there too. Um my for myself, I have three children, a nine, seven, and a fouryear-old. So they hopefully will all be seeing that school. Um, and then for my professional
career, I am a senior project superintendent at Turner Construction. Um, which pretty much all of our buildings now be are lead buildings. The last buildings, uh, the current building I'm on is a lead platinum building. Um,
done multiple lead gold buildings. Uh, have done any everything from uh, hospitals to labs, office buildings, highrises. Um, so I kind of have that uh backup with that and then um hopefully I
can bring in some knowledge of current market conditions and costs of different things through uh the help of my company and stuff like that, what we publish out to help uh owners and uh developers and everything. So >> thank you.
>> Thank you, Kristen. Definitely safety first. Let's keep the camera off. That's a wise choice. Yep. Um Paul. >> Hello everyone. Um my name is Paul as you can see. Um I am a I'm starting my fifth term on the school committee. My
kids um have been to Medford High. My daughter's a senior. Um I've made a core component of my campaigns. A complete decarbonization. Highest lead is the minimum. Um so u I look forward to um
making sure we do that. It was part of the school committee resolution I wrote which expects that to be what this building will be. So, um I'm looking forward to what that means because it's fun technically. Um I when I redid my
own heating system, I was so depressed that it was a couple years too early for geothermal. So, I have just uh air source heat pumps. But um I look forward to us having no gas connections to the building and having as little
electricity being pumped in as possible. Thank you. >> Y lots of great topics there and we will be touching on all those I'm sure. Um and then last but not least, Nathan. >> Yep. Hi everyone. My name is Nathan Scott. Uh I'm a Medford resident. I have
two kids in elementary school. So certainly hoping uh that they will be able to attend the new high school. Um I work in capital construction uh managing programs for the design and construction of spaces like this high school uh but not high schools. So looking forward to
supporting uh this group and the building committee with that knowledge. Um happy to be here. >> All right. Um so again before we jump into giving everyone a little bit more opportunity to talk about uh your own project goals
I know some folks already delve into that which is great um we do want to um just sort of calibrate our understanding here um of what are these advisory teams um and sort of what is this process that we're um embarking on with them. Um so
really what the advisory teams are are a mechanism to um bring in um really diverse stakeholder voices um into the design process uh for the new high school project. Um this it's a common
challenge um with all communities that there's a lot of different voices um that need to that want to um help guide the project moving forward. Um and we found that this process of really bringing in those expert voices um is is
a very valuable one. Um and what we have found is is um effective is to break up um sort of these folk these advisory team discussions um into four discrete groups. Um and these are not intended to
be uh individual silos of discussion. Um they are intentionally as is shown here um really a ven diagram in terms of their overlap um there's a lot of overlapping u membership um between these advisory teams between both
members of the building committee um as well as other individuals um which really goes to the heart of the fact that there is overlap in a lot of these topics right um sustainability um is very much connected to site um for instance um as is um educational
planning So the they're not intended to be um disperate conversations u but it's it's necessary to give each uh topic its space to have a conversation and then we'll eventually bring these together so that there's awareness of um where those
overlaps are. Um but these four uh groups that we um are setting up as advisory team discussions is uh this one sustainability and MEP systems um site safety and security um so overlapping both in terms of mechanics of the site
um as well as issues of safety and security um educational planning and equity um and there certainly are a lot of other threads of conversation going on right now um on the topic of educational planning um there's educational visioning that's going on
There are detailed programming meetings. Um there's so much focus there really because that is the core of this project, right? It is a high school project. There's a lot else that goes into it. Um but it really needs that amount of attention and discussion going forward. Um and then lastly is exterior and interior design. Um and that is a
very um all-encompassing um type of advisory team grouping as well. Uh but again we found that these um these four uh subjects um are really helping to cover um really the the large um broad
strokes of the project and helping to provide some really valuable insight and um an opportunity for um the various stakeholder voices that need to play in. Um so just to to cover um the topic again it it's very self-explanatory in
terms of um what the intent of what we want to cover here um both as part of this meeting today as well as the continuum of meetings that we'll lay out um in front with this uh particular advisory team. Um so we are going to talk um about uh specifically mechanical electrical plumbing even fire protection
systems um that are going to be going into the building. Um eventually we'll get to the point of some recommendations for the typo system to be included in um as well as that connection um to uh sustainable design, not just for those mechanical systems um but really the
larger topic of sustainable design. And there's really just this um very tight connection relationship between um what we're picking for u mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection systems and the level of sustainability. but it is intended to be all-encompassing um in terms of those
two topics. Um a quick um orientation to our overall project schedule. I know some of you have seen this before um but it may be new overall in terms of the project timeline. Um I always point out the fact that the right hand side of this pro of this uh schedule is our intended project
completion date uh which is July of 2030. Um and we are all the way um still in the feasibility study at the lefth hand side of the chart. Um the stars that you see noted here um are our touch points for each individual um advisory
team meeting. Um so each advisory team will meet um a total of four times through this early portion of the overall project uh life cycle um to help develop um some recommendations that will be uh given to the the building committee uh for incorporation in the
project. Um so we'll be meeting today. Um we do have a time scheduled already for the second meeting. Um and then we'll talk about also the third and the fourth meeting in terms of getting uh something on the calendar um as we move forward and just the organization of those four
meetings um so you can understand the construct of them. Um today is really a listening meeting. U we want to hear from the advisory teams in terms of um those priority goals. Um we will take those priority goals. Um for the second meeting um we will elaborate them. Um we
will add some context to them as well as add any uh topics that are necessary uh that maybe didn't rise up through the uh the natural discussion that we've had. Um the third meeting when it occurs will be a confirmation um really of the discussion that we have at that second
meeting um and the establishment of a list of recommendations. Um and then the fourth meeting will just be really um reconvening to u confirm the recommendations um and u pass those through to the building committee. And so again the sustainability givens
I'm going to hand this over to Martine in a second. Um these are the things that we know are the building blocks for this discussion. Um so we just want to make sure that people are um understanding where that is. Obviously we can go above and beyond u but these are baselines u for a variety of reasons.
Right. Um so so this is we're going to make this very short. We just wanted you to understand what's included in the project at the base and then the idea is to talk about beyond right. Um so the
there's three major areas. The MSBA green school policy which has requirements in terms of of um the sustainable criteria. the Massachusetts specialized stretch code which Medford adopted and then your Medford goals or
the Medford what we understand of Medford's green um guidelines and and some of the policies. So for the MSBA green school policy basically the current policy uh which which dates from
2023 requires lead silver. Currently it requires lead V4 but with the upcoming lead V5 which our projects is is going to be under in April next April it's likely they will update to lead V5. Um
it requires the stretch energy code the standard stretch code. So by default going with the fact that your specialized stretch code we're going to have to comply and meet the standard stretch code which is one requirement of the specialized stretch code. Um they
they sub they subsidize full commissioning MSBA does so we go after MEP building enclosure and ongoing commissioning the full six points in lead and then they have specific requirements
um basic requirements some of the materials and resources and indoor environmental um quality points. So that's the base reimbursement, the base green policy. Then they have a 4% additional
reimbursement if a community pursues the specialized stretch energy code which Medford has adopted. So by complying with the specialized stretch and early code, there's an additional 3% reimbursement and for an additional 1%
uh we can pursue um we can elect to pursue and we recommend that we pursue more of the required uh materials and resources and indoor environmental quality points. um those percentage add up in terms of you know hundreds of
thousands and millions of dollars. So it's it's important to um consider this additional reimbursement. Um the project like I said will pursue lead B5. Lead B5 is u mandated next April I believe next.
So the full compliance with the standard stretch code is at the base and then with Medford uh being under the specialized stretch code uh we have a choice between three pathways. Um the first pathway is all electric which we highly recommend um all electric heating
and cooling domestic hot water. If a project decides to pursue fossil fuel heating, then there's spec specific requirements that make it a bit ch I would say that add add
criteria. So if you decide to pursue fossil fuel, you need to install fully install PV to offset that fossil fuel and you need to have electrification readiness. you need to set your whole site to be able to electrify in the future. With this
school being designed and done for the next 15 years, um it's best to right away, you know, um plan for all electric age and domestic hot water. And that's really what we've been seeing and what we're doing on the majority of our
projects for the past seven eight years. Next. And then we are aware of your um you know green communities in in Medford, green committees. Um so and green goals. So you have the go
green method. Um you have a solar ordinance from our understanding that that we would love to hear about how you're applying it to your public public buildings versus private buildings. And then we are aware of your sustainable design guidelines. I think a lot of what
we've seen in the G given may bode well with your sustainable design guidelines, but we'd love to hear you discuss, you know, how much be where you want to go in terms of of beyond the criteria of the green policy and the uh base lead
and uh specialized switch code. >> Thanks. So, I'm going to pull down the screen share for a second. Um, and I'm going to just do a quick piece of math here to confirm what we have for timing.
Um, so I think we actually because we have about 13 people here. Um, I think we'll have maybe four and a half minutes per person. Um, we can give everyone. Obviously, folks are um free to not take all that time if they want. Um but I do
want to mention that if um if you're talking um and just feel free to use train of thought as you're going, I will interrupt you. Um I apologize in advance for that. Um definitely not something I feel comfortable with, but I have been tagged with being sort of the timekeeper
role. Um, and if we do cut you off and you have more to say, um, we definitely welcome encourage um, any written materials to be transmitted through. Um, I think we'll just figure out who the correct person uh, to direct them to. It may be our uh, OPM. Um, but we'll figure
out who to get to. U, that should not be a big detail uh, to organize. Um but we will take um written um guidance as well if there's priorities that you're not able to uh get through sharing once we get to your particular um piece in the
um the presentation here. So I'm also going to just go back to my list of team members and we're just going to go alphabetically as well and I'm going to set up my timer. Um, I won't be doing something obnoxious like putting a big
clock up on the screen because sometimes we do that at public meetings and that can get a little ominous. So, um, you'll just have to wait for me to to jump in. Um, so that will be where we start. Um, and I don't know if Libby has joined us
since. U, but if not, I think um, Sunny, you're going to be up first. >> Okay. Time starts now. >> Go right ahead. Yeah. >> Okay. Um I
I you know it's really interesting. So I I was trying to figure out how to start this because I have been in your shoes quite frequently. I I lead a lot of public processes and and do sustainability work with um public schools. And I think one of the biggest things that I think is most important is
a holistic approach to sustainability. Right? So, we're thinking a lot about not just energy efficiency. We're not just thinking about water. We're not just thinking about daylight and views, but how they all interact together and what that experience is for the students and the educators and the community because it's a community building, too.
Um, I also hold the hat of um the co-chair of the carbon leadership forum uh for the Boston Northeast Hub. So, I think carbon is really important to me. I think I'm really interested to see what uh portion of this school can be
saved. I think it's a architecturally a really beautiful school. I know that there are a lot of functional uh issues with the school. So I do think those have to be resolved as well. Um and so sort of understanding what amount of the school can be saved, thinking about
embodied carbon um is really important. Um I'd love to see um some daylight studies. I think that's really important. I think um knowing knowing the impact that that has on um students ability to learn is really
good. I think that's also tons of studies on um teacher retention, staff retention, all that is really good too. Um I think uh thinking about materials I know um MSBA provides additional incentives for that and lead v5 is going
to be a bit of a hurdle to think about the types of materials and the circularity of materials that we're putting into the building because it's not just the the health of the the the occupants that are in there but the health of the people that are creating those materials for us. Um and that also um goes into thinking about embodied
carbon. So thinking about how we can not just benefit the school, but the the the community outside of Medford. We're we're not just a bunch of Medford's like a a big mix of people, too. So, we really want to support the the the
community and thinking about what is built in Medford and how we can use local materials, how we can use local local labor. Um I I mean, you have the Vogue School. would love to see the the interaction of the Vogue School and the sort of traditional core academics and
how that can benefit um teaching and learning. Love to think about outdoor spaces. I know this is an incredibly tricky site. Um so thinking about how you can um bring students outside. Um I don't know, those things are all just
really important to me. I I know that um energy efficiency is something that is kind of a given now. I mean, uh, you you presented that with the the specialized stretch energy code, and I I I know that the there's benefit in terms of cost, and I know that ground source heat pumps
can can pan out and pay back within 20 years, and that feels like a no-brainer if it's something that we could do on the site. Um, I know that there will actually be gas at this school because there are vocational programs. it doesn't necessarily mean that um that's
how you run the school and that's how the school will function. But I I I'm aware that that's something that I think will be important to teach the students as well. Um so I think that on top of just knowing that there are taxpayers here and we do
have to pay for this. So sort of helping bring them along is also really important. I know that we we have this small group of people here, but trying to get the the message out to the community is something that maybe we take on as community members, but I would love for this group to talk about
how that message is shared with the community. I think that's something that's incredibly important. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Just four minutes, too, so that was perfect. Um, let's
switch over to Austin. >> Yeah. Uh, thanks for the for the opportunity. Um, I think from from my side, I I started my career in energy efficiency and then and then moved over to the solar side. So I think echoing a little bit of what Sunny said uh you
know the efficiency is is given and it's also largely the lowhanging fruit and and when I think about bringing solar or storage on board um the easiest way to to reduce the overall energy needed is to just make that denominator as low as
possible. Um so as as the design is being put together um and then a potential rooftop or carport or other solar system is being sized and storage is being sized um you know understanding uh you know how what steps can be taken
initially uh to to get um you know to to get the the solar and the storage to cover as much as possible um from from the outset. Um I'm I'm interested as you know a potential future uh parent uh and as someone who sees the uh who is
currently now sort of as we're starting this big electrification journey uh you know nationwide uh a real demand for uh electricians, a real demand for for the services that that vocational programs provide. And so
creating a building and creating an environment where the building itself is a part of the education um I think is is is really important. Um you know you're you're creating uh ways of accessing the
solar or accessing the electrical equipment in a in a safe manner of course uh but that really becomes you know where where students are able to see sort of the direct inputs and outputs um and then learn from that uh learn from that as well. Um, and then I think finally something that that I'm really interested in in just
understanding from from my peers on the group and and from you all is just the landscape for renewable energy, for storage, uh, the financing landscape is is difficult, uh, and it is ever evolving. And so understanding sort of as those goals are being put together,
what steps can uh, the city take? what steps is is this group able to take to to maybe make some some financial decisions that can lock in uh lock in future benefits. So whether that's you know we we call it safe harboring in in
uh the solar world um you know but what are what are steps that that within the broader uh law and regulation that that can be taken uh now or or in the very near future such that the benefits are
being realized uh from an overall cost perspective um down the road. I'll um I'll leave it there. Yeah. >> And I think it's a great point. I think just also thinking about the fact that our utilities are going to be one of our
critical stakeholders um in this entire um equation that we're putting together as well. Um so they will be brought into the conversation at a certain point. If we can get them um here as part of um one of our advisory team meetings, um that may be ideal moving forward just so they can be current um to everyone's
thoughts as we go. And and I don't know if I had to to guess, I'm sure someone on this call could could potentially check me, but I would imagine that that the high school is probably one of the larger loads in Medford. And so having, you know, there is some there is some power in that uh you know, maybe pun intended, uh with
the ability to to you know, work with the utility in ways that are advantageous to uh to the school and and to the students. >> Excellent. All right. I think it is Audrey that is next. I um so I said before kind of my goals,
but I was just taking notes as people were talking. This is kind of adding into my um my thoughts about goals. So, I think being an environmental science teacher for so long, um I think one of the most frustrating
things that I've seen is um when smaller decisions aren't taken are not taking the bigger picture into account. So, what I mean by that is taking the bigger picture of how the not just the building but me as a whole functions. So, you
know, we make smaller decisions about waste management, not understanding that, for example, the trash gets burned, right? Not go to a dumpster. And so, it's great if you want to, for example, use compostable materials. I'm 100% behind that. But if they're just getting burned and not actually being
used for the design, I do you know what I'm trying to say? Like, it's I'm just giving that as an example. Um I have tried for many years to try different initiatives in that building some with success and some with not. Um for various reasons no no blame you know or
anywhere. Um I think water is a big issue. I work closely with the MWR so I think that I have a lot of thoughts about water. Um you know that we have some of the best water in the country. is making sure that that you know it's
hard for me because so my floor in three I'm on the third floor of B building was redone about 11 years ago and so I have the newer section um and so I'm a little um I've learned a lot through that process and also maybe a little like for
lack of a better word gunshy about certain things because we you know we got millions of dollars and they put in a lot of things that are that are not working. Um, and it's frustrating, right, to see when you have people m, you know, putting all this money and this effort into something and then it
doesn't work. Um, and I'll say the probably the biggest vice of that building is the roof. Um, over my tenure, I've seen that roof repaired um, at least four times and we still have leaks coming through um, even in the new section. So that's just another
example of how it's like, you know, I'm not an engineer, so I don't know how to fix it, but it's like I I'd love to finally get stuff like that resolved. Um, as far as energy efficiency, um, yeah, that building is not um, even
in my section, there's issues. Even again, it's that old. It's only 10, 11 years old, but the HVAC is doesn't work right. So, it's certainly frustrating because I know it's costing money. Um, you know what I mean? And we we try to vocalize on that. Um, and so, you know,
as far as going back to the gas issue, I don't think it's realistic not to have some sort of gas line going to the school. Uh, not just for science labs, but I'm I'm specifically thinking of the culinary department and the vocational school. I mean, I know where we're at with fossil fuels, but it's not
realistic to say that we're not going to use them at all. And I don't think we need to put in a line for heating the building, but I do think that, you know, we're never going to 100% get away from them in certain aspects. And so I know some of the vocational school is going to need that. So, you know, my question
would be not to answer now, but is there a way that we could have access to that line, the natural gas line for certain things and not just heating? You know, I don't know if that's a possibility. Again, I don't know the engineering side of it. Um, and just also to address the other thing
about the vogue. The voke and the high school is integrated for classroom learning, just so you guys know that if you weren't aware. So, we do already have that in place. And of course, my other thing too is I'm a big proponent of the FELS. Um, I my colleague and I, Miss Carnabuchi, who teaches environmental science, we do do outdoor
learning. We take our classes outside in the FELS. We utilize that space. So, being able to continue to utilize that space. I've heard that there's plans to try to cut into the fells, which personally I I'm not in favor of that being a on the ecology side, but having
access to it obviously is still important. Um, but I'd love to bring more green in the building because there's so much data about health and mental health and um just having green space in within a building I feel is
would make a huge impact and a green roof and and just things like that. So th I'm kind of all over the place, but those are just my initial thoughts um on everything. >> Those are excellent. No, thank you. And I think you're absolutely right that this is the time that we're just going
to be framing questions. We're not answering. Um I will just say really quickly that um there are no plans to do anything yet. Um I know there's a lot of rumors out there that we're going to be doing this or going to be doing that. We are just at the beginning of the process and really this is this and the other advisory team meetings as well as all
the other discussions going on right now. they are forming what that path forward is going to be. Um so it is there is no plan out there um that we're following just yet. We're very much at the formative stage. All right. Um Jenny.
Oh, yep. Jenny, sorry. >> Hi there. Um, you know, I when I think about this space, I'm just so interested to learn from everybody who is on this call who lives in Medford and is so
talented and qualified in the space. So I don't have a whole lot to say about this topic except um as the chair to try to attend as much of these meetings as possible and understand like what what are the things available to us as a community when we talk about energy
efficiency um and MEP and like what MEP even stands for because this isn't the world I live in. Um but I'm just really curious and interested in what you all have to say so that we can make good decisions. um
that don't repeat some of the things Medford is really well known for like doing things on the cheap and then having buildings that don't work. Um that's not the kind of process I want to lead and so I'm super excited that all of you are willing to help us do better.
>> Thank you. >> Jenny, I think you can choose also who you want to give your extra time to. Um Chris more qualified than me. >> Um hello. Uh so I'm I'm Chris Hogan. Um I build capital projects for a living uh
representing the owner. Um um this is a really exciting project and um happy to be part of it. Um my perspective is that uh projects of this scale are most successful when they focus on simplicity. um the goals that
the financing appear to require all the lead certifications are awfully um impressive and so if that's a building that that gets delivered as a baseline that's going to be uh a very exciting facility. Um, so, um, yeah, I'm just I'm
here to help offer the perspective of trying to keep it simple, um, and, uh, share any other experience I've had on projects like this. Uh, and, uh, it just, it's so exciting for the community, um, to think about what this will bring and, uh, just glad to be a part of it. So,
that's it. >> Great. I appreciate that perspective on things. >> All right. Uh, Elizabeth, >> thank you. Um, hi again. So, I know from experience that we're in very good hands with SMMA on the team and also having
someone from HMFH on this committee. Um, which gives me confidence there's some that there are some other things we can take for granted. I also take for granted things like light shelves and so on. Um, daylighting. My strength is really in putting pieces together. So, I think we have so much
expertise on this committee and on the building committee that I don't need to re reiterate things that others have already said. But, um, when I'm talking about pieces, I mean things like it's all very well and good to pick certain types of very efficient systems, but if
they're poorly installed or they're the design does not accommodate acoustics appropriately, it's going to mess up the sound background sound in the classrooms. Um, I know that daylighting is considered to be uh extremely important and I'm not saying that it's not, but acoustics actually makes a
bigger difference for students. Um, so that's extremely important when we're talking about ducted systems in the walls and any anything like that. Um, there's also going to be a need for extra ventilation because we have the all of the CTE programs, of course, um,
a a large kitchen. We also have we'll have janitor closets and so on. And so those systems tend to add to noise, but also energy use. They're extremely important though. Um, so we're going to have to consider those. Uh, ceiling heights makes a big difference. I um
could take you to I'd love you to tour the McGlin and see how the really high ceiling in the um coral room/green room behind the theater has fans at the very top that have never been cleaned and they're absolutely disgusting. And that's just a horrifying thing in a
school in my opinion. So, we need to think about all these other little pieces, maybe even not so little. Um, I know from talking to principal Fallon that CTE is planning to expand into HVAC. So, that's important. Someone mentioned um that there will be gas use in the building because of CTE. So, I
think that's another example of where those students are going to have gas fueled systems in their curriculum. I'm sure um I will reiterate that Massave is important to go for. I also want to uh raise the point that it's extremely important that facilities staff are
involved in the design and the decision-m um and we need to consider maintenance and monitoring of every all of all the systems um long-term and what that means in terms of uh actual energy efficiency once the building is occupied. So, thank you. Oh, one final
thing for those of us who aren't steeped in lead. Could we get a primer at some point as to what like the key um the highlights are that we need to know? That would be really helpful. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Yeah. No, I think we'll be happy to do that moving forward. And those are
exactly the types of things that we want to hear at this um if there's a desire uh for additional information um at our next meeting, we can come um with that as part of the presentation. So, uh, for folks that have already spoken and and have things that are on their mind, um, you can feel free to submit, um, those
requests, um, moving forward as well as written comments and we can take those, um, in and as we format the next meeting, uh, be responsive to them. Um, and I'll just mention really quickly that, uh, we are completely um, in alignment in terms of uh, making sure that the facilities, staff uh, from the
district as well as the building are included. I know Ken is uh carrying a little bit of that water here um in terms of that representation, but there's many others besides him as well that are going to be included in the conversation moving forward. So,
let me just jump back to our list. Um Ken, I think that was maybe a good segue into you. Actually, I did not plan that. >> Thanks. So, um, I've been in public education for over 30 years and I've been through seven in whole or or in part projects. So, I'm really keenly
interested in the outcomes of the project. I've seen stuff in projects go well and not go so well and then 5 10 years later in the project they're just not realize what we thought we were going to get. So, that's incredibly important to me that we're focusing on those outcomes. I know firsthand what
difference it makes in in a classroom when it's properly conditioned and proper lighting and proper environment and all of that going from what doesn't work before a project and what does work after a project. So those are all really important to me as far as outcomes. I'm
also really interested in projecting the uh energy costs because those end up being budget drivers in future years and making sure we're trying to reduce our our energy costs as much as possible to try to alleviate um the squeeze on the budgets that I I see and have
experienced. Um, and I'm also very interested in the commissioning process that goes after the fact, making sure it works as designed and that we um repeat that commissioning process in the future to making sure things that start to fall apart get brought back into alignment. U
making sure our maintenance staff is fully um trained and capable of maintaining this because it, you know, if we can't keep it going for long term for 50 years, you know, it's just not worth doing it. So that's kind of what my my interests and and interests are.
>> Thank you. Yeah, I've heard several references to commissioning. So we'll definitely dive in there. Not just MEP systems commissioning, but I think envelope commissioning is certainly something that has come up of a topic that we're going to want to talk through and understand.
All right. Um, so Sarah, Sarah was not on previously, but I'm not sure if she has joined. No, she said that she could not make it. Um, so then we'll jump to Nicole Cole was not on. >> Not here either.
>> Yep. Okay. So, we'll switch over to Jessica. >> Um, I mean, I think everyone has said a lot of really great things. Energy, um, incentives, embodied carbon are all really important to me. Um, another one
is thinking about sighting. Um, thinking about some of our more passive approaches to um, energy and sustainability as well for a building, not relying fully on the systems to do the work, but the building as well. Um,
but really um, of kind of what I see day-to-day is more how the occupants interact with the building. Um, and you know, you can build the most sustainable building in the world, but if the occupants don't
understand how it operates, if the facilities team doesn't understand how it operates, it's all for not. Um, and so it's really understanding what that building is supposed to do, how it should operate, and you know, put a sweater on, we don't change set points,
things like that. Just all of the education that goes around with it once it's built. um you know, signage, occupant engagement strategies, you know, both the what Austin talked about learning and kind of using it as you
know, building as a classroom, um but also just kind of more passive occupant engagement strategies as well. Um and then on top of commissioning, retrocommissioning, recommissioning, but also um fault detection systems can be
really really useful. um in a building to help flag um issues on a regular basis and make sure that your building systems are staying in line. So, that's kind of my focus. >> Excellent.
All right. Uh Brenda, I think you're up next. >> Great. So, um yeah, a lot has already been said, but I would like to just reiterate a little bit of it. Um, I'd love to see the building be as close to
net zero as possible, right? So, no fossil systems, ground source heat pump, solar, a tight building envelope like passive house. Um, I second Sunny's interested in body carbon. Um,
and um, I also want to mention when we're thinking about wiring for electric vehicle charging stations, we want to include wiring for future electric school buses. Um, I and I also want to make sure we're
we're considering indoor air quality. I know we've mentioned that those there are lead points there that we're going to be pursuing. Um, and then also reducing impermeable surfaces. Medford has a green score for large buildings.
Um, and so we just want to make sure that we're exceeding that that green score and and considering the fact that that building has had flooding in the past, which is surprising for its location. Um yeah, the the school bus um charging
is definitely something to think about in terms of the loads that are driven there and sort of the potential uh opportunities that it presents as well as sort of the site um requirements that that would come into play there in terms of housing those. So um I think that's a great topic to unpack a little bit more
as we move forward as well. Oh, I want to mention we have a draft bus electrification plan um that has looked at what the load the potential loads for that would be so we can make sure that that you receive that so you can factor that in.
>> Fantastic. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Uh Luke. Oh, there there we go. Um All right. So, uh, yes. Uh, I've got 30 panels on my roof. I've got two electrified vehicles. Um, I've been
residential adopter for the last decade. There's pros and cons. Um, the uh the school's a big project. Uh, there's going to be a Goldilock zone for us, but too much of one thing or too little of another is going to leave us
with with virus remorse. Um, so I kind of done a lot of research. Um, I've looked at a lot of materials from uh neighboring high school projects. Um, and you know uh I'm a practical
person uh ultimately um and I know there's been some discussion about uh gas lines uh to the high school. I I wasn't aware of the the CTE need but certainly that's a very strong driver. Um, another one is if, you know, we're all electric and we want to avoid a
frozen pipe disaster in the future, um, it might be wise to have a a gas fired emergency generator somewhere on the property. um uh things I'd like to see uh in in terms
of our planning um you know I want to see u technical products that can lead to um good recommendations that ultimately generate um wise decisions. So, uh, kind of supporting elements
there would be, u I'd like to see a a survey of, um, mechanical electrical plumbing systems that are in place, uh, in each of our surrounding schools. Uh, as well as a survey of their, um, achievement levels, uh, for lead. Uh, I
know, um, you know, gold is a target, uh, platinum's a target, but sometimes silver is what happens. Um, Wakefield's one example of that. Uh, and there's reasons for that. Costs, um, site uh, um, suitability. Um, I'm not an expert.
Um, but, you know, I can certainly read the articles and and the reports. So, um, I'd like to get a canvas of, um, the surrounding schools just to understand, uh, you know, what our neighbors have achieved. Um, I came across a very good simple um,
pro and con comparison in Somerville's uh, preferred schematic report. Um, uh, I thought it was actually very good in just summarizing um, uh, various factors, uh, their costs, their benefits, um, some, you know, uh,
contextual notes. Um, I'd like to have something like that prepared for for our project. Um, it would help with decision-m. Um, I do want to point out that I'm very optimistic with carbon embodiment on our
project. I think we can do really well with it. Um, reason being the gym is enormous. It's almost a fieldhouse. The pool is enormous. Uh, the CTE spaces are enormous. The science wing, which is only 10 to 15 years old. Um those are
large spaces that um uh we may potentially succeed in in renovating um modernizing and retaining um and uh avoiding the de demolition which I think will uh have benefit for our our carbon
embodiment score. Um so that's something I'd like to understand uh better you know like what those opportunities are um as we move forward. Um, one area that I haven't found a lot of information on that I' I'd like to see, just personal request, is the energy needs of the
pool. Uh, that is not something I understand well, um, but, uh, I would hope that we could, um, estimate it if it's not something that could be directly measured. Um, I know the systems, uh, in the high school are
shared. There's four basic mechanical rooms. um and I'm not uh familiar with how the routing of um air outputs uh occur throughout the building. So, um I'd like to understand how much uh it
costs to, you know, keep that that pool going. It's an important community asset and I certainly support retaining it. Um but understanding what it means is important. Um I'd also like to see a
break even chart uh that looks at you know total sum costs um and uh and involves you know industry consensus assessments of future operational costs so that we can get a good estimate for um for our break even uh we'll have
concepts I think we'll down select to some concepts and ultimately pick one um and I' I'd like uh analysis to help drive that. Um and then uh very last thing uh before
I sort of um conclude is uh I would like to see an assessment of um a tall a vertically tall new build uh um cited on the the
current grass practice fields. um uh a new built structure that would connect to a a renovated uh modernized gym, science, swing, pool, CTE spaces, you can form an L. Um uh in the event an
approach like that um is is viable uh for for our site, I know we're going to look at a lot of different concepts. looking at other school projects, uh, you know, upwards of 12, 16, a lot of different things are going to get looked
at. Um, and so, you know, I just wanted to make a plug for for that particular one. Um, oh, and then very last thing actually, so I do have one more thing. Um, there's a very good report the MSBA put out. Um,
it involves a lot of technical jargon. Um but it also uh presents uh costs. Um and and what they did is they had a um company conduct a study and I'm trying to
remember the name of the company but um they put out a report uh in May that assessed the cost of retrofitting existing schools. So, elementary, middle, and high schools um with all electric um systems as all electric HVAC
systems um and uh and and so we have a comparison uh for ground source, air source um and then variations of those. Uh there's hybrid combinations that are that are possible. Um and so uh I I came across this report. I found it to be uh
informative and so I just want to share that uh with um uh the committee. Uh it's a good one to read if you haven't come across it yet. Uh it's uh available on the MSBA site, but I think if you just Google MSBA u um heat pump study uh
it'll come up. And uh that's it for me. Thanks. >> Great. Thank you. There's a lot there. Um, and for those keeping score, yes, I did let Luke go a little bit longer. Um, but I think there's enough time in terms of the overall um, a lotment budget
there. Um, and certainly pools are really a fascinating thing when it comes to energy use as well. There's a lot that we have done and that we can do and think about when we're going there. So, that'll be an interesting subject there. Um, all right. So, Chris, I think you
are up. >> Okay. Um, one of the being like a lifelong Method resident and stuff like that, I I want to be like proud of this project. I want people to understand what we're doing. I want everybody to
kind of be um believe that we're putting out the best thing forward and everything like that. I think that's a a huge thing. Um, you will always hear in Medford that this doesn't work or that doesn't work. But like I feel like people are coming at
this high school as okay, let's change this kind of this thought process. Let's make something that works. Um you always hear of the the school systems this is broken in a school this is wrong or even people saying it today this roof leaks that roof you know let's make something
that can be maintained that is sustainable that people can actually use that the people that are going to be running the school actually understand it's not too complex and overboard for them. Um that things are able to be fixed and repaired. That's the biggest
thing that we kind of deal with. Like things get designed and like the the the maintenance of it is near impossible. Um and it just it just leads to a bunch of different issues. Um the electrification is a is is a big thing. um kind of most
of my last couple jobs have been with the big uh like big buildings in Boston and Cambridge and Austin right now and the utility companies can't can't get the power like we we've been I literally
been working on a job for two and a half years. We're turning over the building next week. We got we got permanent power two weeks ago and this is a full lab building for Harvard. So like Harvard doesn't have the pull to get the power companies to get everything. A whole new
infrastructure had to be brought in and people got to understand that like the electrification is a big thing. The utility companies it is is a massive undertaking for them and a massive upfront cost for them to do. And so I think that's a huge thing we got to understand is what are they going to
need? Where is this power coming from? where is these substations and all this work that's going to be leading, you know, up this right down these main streets and up into there and like what what's that going to kind of affect? Um I think is a huge thing that doesn't get
over doesn't maybe get thought of enough. Um and we need to bring them in early on if this is the route that we're going to. >> Yeah, I don't I don't think we can stress that enough. Um, we're definitely going to get going um with them as soon
as we can because the ability for the grid to support the building is something it's a it's a huge topic. All right. Um Paul, thank you. Going later is blessing and curse because it's like I want to
respond to things and second them all, but I won't make this go on forever. Um I do really um want us to consider a passive building um if possible. I was reading that if you do passive lead is
like just happens. Um so um and passive is like is the is outcome space versus lead which is like the steps and the things that you said you would do and you did them but that doesn't necessarily isn't the same as what's it like when it's running. Um, so I I don't
know enough about those things other than to say that uh I am interested in this passive building, although I've heard also that that does sometimes limit the amount of light, amount of windows you can have. Uh, so I don't I don't know, you know, some of these
buildings, um, I think North Andover or Andover, I always forget which one it is, where it's like it looks like a mall. It's like the giant windows that are like three stories tall. Uh, maybe those can be made to be as efficient as a wall. I don't know. Um, I have a human
factors degree and I really want to make sure we don't have doors that have handles when you push and basic stuff like that that still gets built every day in buildings across the world. And it's so obnoxious and it's obnoxious every single time every user uses those
things where the affordances are wrong. And we're all so accustomed to being the, "Oh, I'm so stupid. I pulled when I should have pushed." And it's not us. It's never us. It's always the mistakes that are made there. And those, you know, replacing doors,
as we know from having to do some at the schools lately, are so expensive. You don't go in and go, you know, it's a pain, but it'll cost you $10,000 to replace it so that it's not a pain for the next 50 years. So, let's do some of that stuff first, right? Um, these are
not things that are hard to get right, but you have to know that you have to get them right. Um, I would really like that other article that Luke mentioned earlier, not the one that was linked. I can't remember what it was about. It was a I think a comparison of the different options. Um, so Luke, if you could send
that to us, I'd greatly appreciate that. Um, Chris mentioned the power companies, which I'm glad Chris brought that up because we, um, we bought all electric. Uh, we were going to convert, I think, all of our schools other than the high school to, um, um, I have it in my
kitchen and I can't remember the names kind of the stoves. Uh, what's the >> induction? Thank you. We had induction. We had it delivered and then the grid couldn't handle it and it was going to be like $400,000 for National Grid to do
just one building or something. So, we sent them all back and, you know, had to buy brand new gas equipment that will last for a couple of decades. So, there's no chance of not, you know, emitting gas in those buildings for quite a long time. You
know, they're not they're not home stoves. These are very expensive pieces of equipment. So, I think uh that power issue um I was super glad to hear about the school bus electric infrastructure. Yes. Yes. Yes. Because um I know um uh
Worcester has been bringing their busing in-house. I don't think they've done the whole thing yet. Um and I always assume that if you do in-house busing, it's more expensive. And the actual answer is it is way cheaper. um you can hire employees because you give them benefits and they're in a union and all and you can use them at other hours for other
things. It's actually cheaper but you got to have a place to do it and you got to have the infrastructure both mechanically but also from a you know management perspective to be able to do that. Uh, I don't think we have any of that right now, but I would like us to
not feel ready and then need to give National Grid and, you know, whatever, millions and millions of dollars so that we could even start the project. Um, I hope I'm not going too long. Um, I also did want to say something about costs
because I I I know I'm always on one end of costs and I'm sure it looks like I just want to spend all the money taxpayers have ever had and will ever have. like I just let's just spend it all on schools and that's that's not the case. But at least in my experience, things are
not going to get cheaper. They just don't. And um so, you know, we could have built this whole high school without MSBA 7 years ago for less than we're going to build it now. So
any delays about things that we want is is in my mind not fiscally responsible u because it will always cost more. And uh this is I've been in the school committee for eight years. There has never been a year when we had enough money. Not even close. And I
don't predict in my lifetime that the answer is there will be a year where we have enough money. That's just not how municipal finance works. Um, so we're never going to have enough money in the future. So I want us to make sure that
this project is uh sustainability has so many meanings but is so maintainable. You know, we don't necessarily have the maintenance staff that could do maintenance on a new building. We will have to increase our maintenance department. We'll have to definitely increase our IT department. So, we're
going to add I don't know how many, but we're going to add numerous additional employees to this to operate this building. And that's on top of what will certainly be massive electric bills compared to what we have now. I I
electrified my home and uh I did it knowing full well that the electric bills were going to cause literal like panic. Um, and they're brutal. I mean, I hit $950 a month in the winter
for my condo. I have two EVs, so it's a little unfair to compare, but um so I want us to know that like to to remember that everything gets more expensive as time goes on. It it then there's never going to be a shortage of things to spend our
municipal dollars on. So, it it seems to me the cheapest option is to do everything we want now. um because we're not going to be able to come back and say, "Let's add let's add another wing um when we're still paying
down the the the debt solutions." So, I'll stop. Thank you. >> Thank you, Paul. Um yeah, I think I mean cost is obviously at the the core of this project and it's that the the lenses of initial first cost um as well
as life cycle cost that we're going to look at as well as operating cost. All those things need to be uh considered as we move forward. All right. Um and I think Nathan, you are up last. Thank you. Yeah, I mean it's been some
great um feedback from everyone. So I probably won't have anything new to say, but maybe I'll just echo the things that are important to me. Um you know, I think when I think about building spaces, um I think this is going to be a school first and not a sustainable building first, right? And so we have to
think about the reliability of it to function as a school. And so when we're making decisions, thinking about how do we keep this functional reliable so that we don't get a random zero degree day and the school can't function because the systems weren't designed to operate at zero degrees. Um
so I think you know the technologies are out there, the trade-offs are out there. I think it's all going to be part of the design process to make sure we have that. Um but making sure that we're creating a reliable environment for the students and the staff. Um I also kind of in the world I've
operated in I think I always did not realize how important envelope is um to creating a sustainable build. I think a lot of times we think about just hey let's have the most um sustainable equipment and that type of approach but really building really tight envelopes
having them operate in a tight way. Um, there's a building I was recently involved in that we built a passive house and then you walk by and see the windows open and that just completely defeats the purpose of making these super efficient walls. And so, not only is it built to that standard, but how is
it built in a way that people who operate it can kind of make sure it actually performs that way. Um, and that's really challenging when you then have to kind of educate a much broader community around, you know, the right way to operate the building. Um, and I think the other thing I think a lot of us here represent as taxpayers,
right? There will be a sale that needs to happen to the broader Medford community that I'm sure we'll all probably be advocates for. And you know, I recently read in the news that Lexington just built a high school for $600 million. And I just was like, I didn't realize that was a number you could build a school for. Um, so I'm not
sure if that's a number that's going to be a world that we'll have to deal with, but just, you know, feeling that we can defend the decisions that are made of like, yes, this is a lean approach to building a school that's going to give us what we need, but is not over the top. The specialized stretch code is amazing. Um,
yeah, love that. 700 million, even better. um you know and so I think the specialized stretch code is like if we can hit that and which I think obviously we have to like that is success and so to feel like we have to go above and beyond that I don't would not advocate there because I
think masters has done a great job of putting out really aggressive standards that are really hard to meet in the world we live in today and so if we can achieve those then I would be super happy. Um but yeah, just kind of how do we advocate to the community that
whatever the end of ultimate price tag is it was done in a way that you know this is going to be the best fit for this community. That's all I have. >> All right. Again, great um in terms of the
diversity of topics um that we've covered here. Um, and if we see any gaps after we have a chance to go back and formulate all of these topics, we will be looking for synergies, organizing them into uh topics that we'll run through at the following meeting. Um,
we'll definitely be sharing those. Let me pull my screen up just one more time. Um, find the right one. I think we are here. everyone can see that at this point. Is that a yes? I see a couple labs.
Okay. Um so again, we're going to get back together um right after the new year um in the middle of January um to have some further discussion um that second meeting that we have will involve a little bit more presentational material um in response to some of the
topics um and the questions all of the topics and questions that were presented today as well as some supplemental ones. Um these are some of the topics and I think as you read through this list um you're going to see um almost everything that we have discussed here. Um so not
to say that this is an exhaustive list um but this is um some of the things that we would not have uh that we would cover even if we had not heard about them but I think this it speaks to the breadth and sort of knowledge of this group um that we have touched on um all of these as we've gone through. Um, and
again, we'll look at whether or not this next meeting on the 15th uh wants to be remote or hybrid. I certainly understand the convenience um of an all remote meeting and we value that, especially trying to get this activity in before the holiday time and um certainly
appreciate everyone's time um given sort of the premium of various um competing interests at this time of year. Um but there's also something wonderful about um being together um in person to be able to sort of have these conversations. Um so whether or not we do fully remote or we do hybrid um we'll
sort that out as we go forward. Um but again just really appreciate everyone's u time today um and your thoughts and really look forward to the conversations to come in the subsequent meetings. So thank you to everybody. Bye y'all.
>> All right. >> See some of you in a few minutes. >> Unless you're staying on for the next meeting, you're welcome to uh to hang around obviously. >> Bye everyone. Thanks for hosting. >> Bye >> bye. Nice meeting you all. >> Bye >> everyone.
Okay. Hello everyone that is joining us. Um we will get going about um 5:35 or so just to give everyone a chance to hop in. But definitely appreciate folks that
jumping on early. Yeah, some of us has already been um hanging around here in this virtual room for an hour and a half. So, we're going to be testing our endurance uh to keep going for another hour and a half, but definitely looking forward to it. You know, Ken, are you just keeping the
stream going as well from one meeting to the next? >> Yes. If I stop and start the recording, it still stitches it together anyways. So, >> okay. Yeah, >> better not to fight the system. >> No, >> I had to just unplug my computer and move it around to other side of the
table because lo and behold, the little plug that was in the middle of the conference table had no power to it. So, the wall is much better in this regard. do feel like it is my responsibility to break up the awkward silence at the
beginning of these meetings. However, because for anyone >> Sorry, I can help you. Um, I I'm going to have to be mobile for part of this meeting with uh uh taking my son to a lesson and so I'll have it I
assume there's not going to be a ton of uh swearing. So, um if it's playing over the car audio should be >> should be fine. >> Should be fine, right? >> Going in YouTube, so hopefully we are right. >> I can't speak for Ken. I don't know. We made it
>> through the last one. We should be fine. Not that he hasn't moved to drop the fbomb. >> All right. trying to recall if this was the meeting that someone said that they were only available to start for um a certain portion of at the beginning in which
case I might allow um them to sort of jump out of alphabetical order uh to be able to share some thoughts if they're around. So um if that is anybody that is logged in right now um feel free to chime in and I will adapt things as we're running through the list.
Hello to everyone that is joining us. Um we are going to give everyone about five minutes just to make sure that we have enough time to log on. But if anyone wants to tell jokes in the meantime, please feel free. Open floor.
I will see a lot of people. Yeah, go ahead, Paul. >> It's a very revealing request. I don't know that I'm not a comedian, so no way. >> Non-jo comments are also welcome. >> I think the first rule is you have to know your audience. So, uh, until we're
all a little more familiar, >> we need to get through the first meeting first before people are going to feel comfortable with that. I think that's there's probably some wisdom there. Jenny, are you in on all the committee meetings? Then
>> I'm trying to sit in on all of these advisory committees just to I'm like making my own personal notes about who to call when I have questions about certain things. So, I'm just like I'm taking it all in. I have no particular expertise in any of these spaces, but I
want to be I want to be able to like guck your brains for important things as those decisions come up so that there's more people who can help. So, more in like reconnaissance mode, but yeah, >> I feel radically underqualified for this
uh this committee. So, that's good to hear. just means that you're an aspirational participant and we do appreciate that uh perspective on things. >> Yeah, I would say no. No one is underqualified. We need all all
perspectives are needed and welcomed. >> I'm so fascinated that every time we have to pick people to do these things, there's so many people in Medford with such interesting qualifications.
It's like st it's like stunning actually. Like we just did a meeting about sustainability and like every person that we selected basically works on schools or buildings in sustainability
and does like carbon neutral things and passive house and like they literally every buzzword you could think about in the space like somebody there was like a leading expert in that thing. So, it's like really fascinating to like
especially like as a parent like you get to know people as parents and like you forget that they have like actual professional work life um outside of like shuttling kids around to lessons and so it's always so like interesting and fascinating to like listen to what
people's like real expertise um and like how they could put that to work. So yeah, it's pretty that's like the fun part of this for sure. feel like that's that's been a consistent uh sort of um
uh um not a side effect but coming with uh entering the educational community as a parent is like you especially in in Medford we seem to have like a really wonderful cross-section of professions
and uh >> uh professional world that intersect. Cool. All right, I think that's actually a great segue into us getting going. Um, so I am going to try to find the right
screen window to share. We will get going with things. All right. Um so hopefully everyone is here today um for our exterior and interior design um advisory team meeting for the Medford High School project because that is what
we're going to be talking about. Um just a quick uh orientation to what uh the discussion is going to be today. Um we're going to go through um some general introductions both of our team um as well as all of the Medford team
members on the advisory team. Um just that we can all get to know each other a little bit. Um those will be sort of brief and then we'll have another opportunity later for everyone to get into um more description of your um individual goals, priority goals and
aspirations um or the goals of um whatever group uh department commission uh you might represent. Um and then we'll talk a little bit um about next steps and sort of how um these advisory team meetings uh fit into the larger context of the project and really sort
of what what these u meetings are. Um, so before we get into that, before we sort of describe the process a bit, um, we do want to start with the introductions, um, we'll start with our team, and I'm going to apologize again to our OPM, uh, team at Leftfield that we will get some head shot in for you,
but we'll let them introduce themselves, um, and then we'll shift over um, to the Medford team. Um, just to start off, my name is Matt Rice. I am an architect and I am the principal in charge for SMMA for the project. Um Helen Fantini, our project manager. She is traveling today,
so she's not going to be joining us, but she is a uh key member of our team. Uh but I'll pass it over to Michael next. >> Good evening, everybody. Michael Partic. I'm an architect and director of design at SMMA. >> All right. And Lucas.
>> Hi. Good evening. Uh Lucas Carrier, architectural designer at SMMA. >> And Sarah. >> Hi everybody. I'm Sarah Long. I'm a senior interior designer with SMMA and also a previous Medford resident.
>> You were sad to leave, right? >> I know. I still touch, but yes. No, so very excited to be a part of this process. >> All right. And Sella, >> hi everyone. I'm Sella Jenka. I'm an architectural designer at SMMA. Looking forward to the discussion.
>> All right. And we want to go through the left field team now. Matt, do you want to start things off? Sure. Uh, I can't run there. Hello everyone. My name is Malino. Uh, I'm one of the project managers for Left Field, who's your owner's project manager. Uh, so we'll be with you for the duration of this
project. Uh, also here I'll hand it off to Jennifer Carlson. >> Hi, I'm Jen Carlson. I am the project director with Left Field. >> And I believe that it Adele had to jump off for this meeting. So, >> okay,
>> just the two of us from uh from left field right now. >> I appreciate that. Um and I appreciate um all of our team as well. I'm just having their cameras on for the introduction when we go on later. So, uh just a request that if folks are online, unless you're driving um or you're sort of on route somewhere and safety is a
concern, um certainly appreciate just being able to get to uh to see everyone and know everyone as part of this introductory effort. Um, so let me advance the slide um to the Medford team and I am going to apologize in advance because I am not going to try and
butcher that first name. Um, and I promise I will um find a way to internalize this moving forward, but I'm going to let um the first name on that list go first and uh tell me how to pronounce your name.
Unless um as did happen at the last meeting I think as well um we had that individual not here. Um so that is Oh >> this is one of our students. >> Oh okay. Are they on right now or >> I don't think I I see um her on but I
think we could the principal's on. I think between the principal and myself we can make sure we follow up. >> Okay that is great. Um and I'll also just use this as an opportunity to say um everyone will get a certain amount of time depending on the number of attendees that we have here um to
introduce um yourself and do some priority goals later. Um for anyone that I interrupt as part of the process um and because the time has uh run out um we're certainly welcome um any written comments to be submitted to us um moving forward. Uh, so that could be another um
engagement option uh for anyone um that isn't able to be here. Um and we can make sure that that is communicated out to the group. Um so I'm going to shift next then to Libby who I did see if you just want to do uh quick introductions here.
I thought I saw Libby All right, I will circle back um if if there's AV issues um or someone sees her hop on. >> She she is here. Let me >> Are you looking for me? >> Yeah. >> Can you hear me? >> Yeah, >> I can't hear you. Yes. Sorry.
>> I realized my mic wasn't working and I clicked something and it kicked me out of the Zoom. So, so sorry about that. >> No problem. >> Um uh so I'm introducing myself, I assume. Yeah, if you could just introduce yourself and just give a quick um connection to the project and sort of what it means to you. We'll have more time later, but
>> yeah, I'm Libby Brown. Um I am a member of the building committee and I'm a Medford resident with two kids in the schools and I'm also an architect. Um so a lot of uh different um angles that come at this project with some care and excitement.
>> Thank you. All right, Alex. All right. Can everyone hear me now? >> We can. Yeah. >> Great. So, my name is Alex Bushkov. Uh, like Libby, I'm an architect uh with BH+ in Boston, 45 person firm. Um, I'm also
a parent of a Medford public school student. She's in the eighth grade at the Andrews. And, um, that's me. >> Thank you. All right. Uh, Marta. >> Hi, I'm Marta Cabal. I'm the principal here at the high school. This is my third year here and I'm really excited
to be part of this project to bring teaching and learning to the next level in a new space for our Medford students. >> Fantastic. I'll try with this one. I may butcher or go ahead so I don't do that.
>> That's all right. Um Relle Diaz. Um I have uh my background is in architecture. Uh, I also have two young children that hopefully will be some of the first students to join this building. Um, yeah, very happy to be here.
>> Thank you. All right, Chloe. >> Hi. Um, I'm Chloe Darcelis and I'm a um a student in Medford High School. Um, I just wanted to like be a part of this project because I want to make this
space an exclusive like space and community for teenagers alike, no matter race, gender, or anything that has to do with you. >> Thank you so much for joining us, Chloe. We really do appreciate student voice. I
think maybe above and beyond any everyone is important in this but um certainly uh the primary users of the building um are critical. So appreciate you here Paul. >> Hi uh Paul Ellis
lifelong metro resident probably entered the existing high school in its second year of existence back in 72 probably. So I've gone through the that the original high school when it first opened. Um I retired a few years ago
from Fidelity Investments. I worked as a uh software and hardware quality assurance. I did that for 40 years before I retired. So I first job was working uh testing CAD CAM software way back when. Uh my two children went
through one graduated in 2012 one the other one graduated in 2016. So I kind of have a feel for pickup and drop offs at the existing method high. a lot of experience with that and um one was in the marching band. So I have an experience with them trying to store
equipment and accessing rooms to do their practicing and my other daughter my daughter was in the orchestra and they kind of had the same experience of extracurricular and making sure that there's room for so being a long time
after resident my goal is hopefully we get a school that lasts another 50 years like this one did except maybe not the uh as much concrete maybe on the outside But, you know, I just want to throw my experience being, you know, here forever
into into the school. >> Really appreciate that perspective. Uh, Suzanne. >> Okay. Well, hi. Nice to meet everybody. I'm Suzanne Gusy. I'm the interim superintendent. Um, I have come a little
bit full circle. I did grow up here in Medford. I went product of Medford public schools. Uh, my whole career has been here. um on my 29th year. So I was an educator for 15 years. I was part of when the new buildings
um opened and I taught over at the McGlin for 11 years and then I moved into school leadership um at the Brooks for eight years and moved up here to central office during COVID. Um, so I
definitely am extremely committed not only to the community but to this um, project to what it means for not only our Medford High School students and our staff but also to the community at large as our flagship school. And you know, we
take a lot of pride in using our schools as community spaces. So really being able to have some input on what we want and hope for this building to look like and feel like um as a community space is really
exciting. I do want to kind of apologize ahead of time. I am slightly double booked tonight. I will be switching to my phone momentarily. Um I have the afterchool task force meeting uh at about 6:00. So I'm not going to be able to stay for the whole thing. So, I do
apologize um for having to duck out a little early. >> Okay. We'll see if we can maybe if we get to that point and it's 5:55 and we're jumping into priority goals, we might give you that uh that poll position in terms of going first. We'll see what we can do there.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Um Jenny. >> Hey everyone. I'm Jenny Graham. I'm the chair of the uh Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee and the vice chair of the school committee. Um, I have two high school students this year. One is a junior um, who is in a
vocational program and the other is a freshman who I believe will be in a vocational program um, if the lottery goes his way. And um, I'm really excited to learn from all of you. Um, there's four of these advisory committees um,
and I get to be on all of them. Um, and my goal here as I was mentioning earlier is just to like learn about the skills of our like super talented community and understand from all of you um the kinds of things that you're thinking about so
that as we go forward and the pace of decision- making um sort of speeds up um as it inevitably will that um we can call on you all um to help us make good decisions um about a future forward
building um and navigate like what's hard about that. So I think um I'm really excited um for this project obviously um but also to hear from all of you. >> All right. Um thank you Brian. I think
you're up next. >> Yeah. Uh can everybody hear me? >> We can. >> Excellent. Nice to see everybody. I'm pretty excited to be here as well. Uh so, uh I'm a parent live in Medford. We
have a son who's at the high school now. He's also in the vocational uh um world and really enjoying the CTE. So, I'm a huge advocate for that. Uh also, I'm a member of the the building committee, the school building committee. So, I've
been following this through for the u for the length of it and it's uh pretty exciting to see where we're headed. And you know, probably least importantly, I'm also an architect, but I've got a history in a prior life of doing a lot
of design work with public school buildings. So, I also feel like this is a a great place to be to to be on the other end of it. And again, like I said, super excited to see where we end up. And I know it's a it's a long and rigorous process, but we got a good
team. So, uh, happy to be here. >> Great. Thank you. >> Nice. >> Um, Den, >> no. Okay, I see Ken is shaking his head, I think, just because he wants to go next. >> Yes, absolutely. Uh, I'm Ken Lord. I'm the chief operations officer of the
Medford Schools. Um, I'm also a member of the school building committee. I'm in charge of facilities, technology, and security for the district. >> All right. Thank you, Ken. Um, Nicole. >> All right. Again, as I said during the last
meeting, it's not the end of the world if people are not here at the beginning, both because we can get feedback afterwards, but also give everybody a little bit more time um as we get into talking about priority goals. So, um, Jen, >> hi. I'm Jen Morano. I am a teacher at
Medford High School. Um, I've taught math there for 18 years now. Um, I'm also a parent of a my daughter graduated last year from Medford High and I have an eighth grader, a sixth grader, and a fourth grader. So, hopefully maybe
getting into the new building. We'll see with my students, but certainly uh as a teacher, I will be using the building quite a bit. >> Excellent. Thank you. Um Paul. >> All righty. Um Paul Rouso. I'm uh on the
school building committee as a non- voting member. I'm my fourth term on the school committee. Um, and uh, my kids, well, my daughter is a senior at Medford High and my son has graduated already. Um, so it's way too late for my kids,
but um, so I'm just beyond excited about this project and uh, glad to see we're moving. So, thank you all. And I want to reiterate something Jenny said earlier about like and I I I text her sometimes while we're in these meetings and I'm
like, can you believe these people live in Medford? like you know it's like I don't know I feel like we're less connected to our neighbors than well we are in fact less connected to our neighbors especially if you're not from here and like the expertise that is just
like everywhere it's shocking to me and I feel really I grew up in rural New Hampshire and I can tell you this would not have been the experience if the members of my little tiny town had gotten together to do this work. So this is great stuff. Thank you.
>> Thanks, Paul. All right, Dileia. >> I think Jesse was ahead of me. Did Jesse want to go or did he already on the list at least? >> Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. >> Go ahead. >> Uh, thanks. Hi. Uh, I'm Jesse. I a 15
year um 15year Medford resident. I have a freshman at the high school, a son, and a son in fifth grade at Brooks. Um, we were starting off when Miss Galooi was at Brooks. Um, I am an architect
admirer. Um, I made it almost a whole semester as a freshman in architecture. Um, but wound up um, uh, in a different area of the arts. I'm a professor at Mass Art in Boston. um teaching
animation um but still uh really love design um and love Medford and uh have uh greatly enjoyed watching um watching the town grow and getting to know my community uh
through the schools and uh the families involved in the schools and um am honored to be able to be uh in any capacity part of this project. Thanks so much, Jesse. Apologies there for jumping past you and thank you Dia
for redirecting me. >> All right. >> No, no worries. I can jump in. Um I'm Delia Wendell. >> No. Yeah, that's fine. Um I'm an architect by training. Um and I I teach now on faculty at MIT and I think I know
SA or at least I know of you. Uh I I teach in the urban studies and planning department. um um um where I um my specialty is in community-led planning and and and um and peace building. Um very excited to be part of this. Oh, and
I should say I have a kindergartener who just started at Brooks. Um have a vested interest here and an infant who has left me sleepdeprived. Uh so hopefully we'll take full advantage of the new high school building. I'm very excited to be here. Thanks Franklin.
>> Thank you. Um, and Eric, >> I was glad to hear this was alphabetical. Thank you. My name is Eric Zechman. Um, I have uh two children here in Medford. One is in fourth grade at the Brooks and my daughter is in the kids corner at the high school. So, we are dealing with a lot of the transportation issues that people have
mentioned earlier. Um, by trade, I'm in higher education. I've worked on the academic side of the house and in college athletics over at BC. Um, and I'm just excited to participate and uh learn what about what we're going to do. It's exciting. Thank you. >> Fantastic. Is there anyone on um that I
have not listed here that is participating. All right, that's a good sign. That means the process is working and that we uh figured out at least the sign up process. So, that's a great thing. Um so, again, I'm going to give just a quick um orientation here in terms of
what we're doing. Um and really like what's what is this advisory team meeting that is going on that we're all participating in? And we know that there's a lot of meetings going on for the project right now um in a lot of different areas. In some cases, it can be u meeting maybe meeting overload. Um
but this um thread of meetings um is something that we found to be critically um important and valuable in terms of really bringing together um a diverse set of stakeholder voices um from across the entire Bedford community. Um the the
challenge that we have um when when um thinking about the design of the project is that there is all this expertise uh that exists in various um corners and we need to find a way not just for us um as the design team to hear those voices u but for the voices to hear themselves.
Right? there's as much to be gained from all of you listening to your um varied perspectives um and being able to dialogue on those types of things because that's really what's going to allow us to build consensus support for the project moving forward. Um so while the collection of the advisory team
meetings um is intended to sort of push to forward um generally the design process um we're also getting sort of this this critical um interchange and exchange of ideas as we move forward. Um so this particular um advisory team
exterior interior design um is really part of a collection um of four different advisory team threads that are um going to be uh carried out over the course of the beginning of the project here. Um and it's important to note that these are not individual silos of
discussion. Um the vin diagram that you see on the screen is really intentional um because these are not discrete isolated uh topics that we're going to be reviewing. Um there is very much when we talk about exterior and interior design um whether we're talking about educational planning, site safety,
security, sustainability, all these things are connected, right? Um but at the same time, if we just sort of open up um the entire playbook and say we're just going to be talking about all of it, um we're really not going to be able to have deep substantive conversations. Um so what this allows us to do is
really um give space um to each individual topic. Um and then we actually do have a lot of um overlapping participation from various members um which will help to bring that connectivity. Uh but eventually um what we're going to produce um from this
course of meetings from every individual um advisory team meeting um is a set of recommendations um that's going to get um forwarded to the full building committee u for approval incorporation into the project. So that's the way that this mechanism is going to work um in
terms of pulling everyone's voices together. Um we're going to listen to you today and then we're going to have some dialogue on each of the topics um and really um try to find some common ground as we move forward. Um overall um objective for this
particular um advisory team um is really thinking about um both exterior um design considerations as well as interior design considerations, right? And it's in some ways design is a is a nebulous topic, right? It covers a lot of different um aspects in terms of when
people mention it and what we're thinking about and that's really maybe the beauty of it, right? That it touches on so many different aspects um of how we conceive of a project. Um I think specifically um the thoughts here um are going to revolve around um both
materiality and aesthetics but also um in terms of space. Um so when we think about um those aspects um we'd love to have people sort of guided in those directions. Certainly if there's something that's outside those um guard rails that you want you just feel um
compelled to talk about um we're not going to restrict that type of conversation but um we just want to let everyone know sort of generally what where we're aiming to sort of collect feedback um from this team. Um and then just in terms of overall process um we
do have um a series of four different meetings um that we are going to be engaging with um each of the teams. Um the second one um which is really our review and respond meeting is scheduled for the middle of January. Um so we'll
be doing that moving forward. Um and then there's um subsequent conversations as well that we need to um settle on the schedule for. Um when we think about the overall timeline for the project um some folks have seen this are familiar with it but for those of you that have not
seen it um our overall project timeline has the building opening um really in the fall of 2030. That is our goal um to the right hand side to the left hand side is where we are um currently um today in terms of the really in the initial portions of the feasibility
study. Um and you can see the stars here really indicate the touch points uh for our advisory team meeting discussions uh that are going to be happening um at the beginning of the project again today, the listening session um and then we'll be following up at the middle of January with uh the subsequent meeting but
extending all the way out um really into the fall um of 2026. Um and then just very briefly um in terms of framing this the the design process and I know that we do have a lot of design professionals um as part of
this particular team which is amazing and so when I say that um the design process is not um a linear one um I think everyone will understand that um there's some there's an inherent sort of wonderful messiness um about the design process right um but we do like to think
about these various activities um that sort of define the process um across the course of things. Um it's not to say that this is linear in any nature. There's certainly going back and um rethinking uh based on various pieces of input. Um but I think where we are at
the beginning right now um is really in this empathy and definition um sort of world. Uh where we're going to operate right now and as we move forward um we'll certainly um start to engage in some of the other parts and pieces of the process. Uh but I just want to try
to encourage us at this point in time um to to think big and really understand that there have been no sort of finite plans that have been uh developed at this point. We're really using this uh collection of meetings both the advisory team as well as the educational
visioning is educational programming. Um really these are um all the parts and pieces that are helping to inform our process moving forward. Um, and so just to to try to reiterate maybe the the creative messiness associated with it. All right. So, this is where I am going
to pull down um the slideshow. I'm going to look at where we are right now and I'm just going to and I think we have about 15 members here if I was counting correctly. Um, so we should each have about four minutes
um to go through. Um, and I'll just um advise folks that um if you get to the four minutes and you're still talking, I will probably interrupt you. Um, I'll say probably because we went through the entire last meeting and I didn't have to interrupt anybody, but that's also because some folks were a little bit more brief up front and it gave a little
bit more space to folks uh towards the end. There's nothing um premeditated about that. It's just how the alphabet works out. Maybe we'll flip things around. Um, and I see that Suzanne just had to hop off, so maybe we'll get a little bit more than the four minutes now. um in terms of um pieces, but if if
I do end up having to cut you off, um just I'll reiterate the the offer uh the opportunity to have folks submit any anything written um after the fact um in terms of being able to allow us to consider it uh moving forward as part of the conversation and part of topics that
want to be covered as we get to um subsequent meetings and uh each of the advisory um team threads. So, um, with that, let me get back to my list.
Um, and I think we're gonna start off with Libby. Um, and I will just start our timer. >> I will try to cut myself off at four minutes. So, you I should just be telling you sort of my the goals and things I bring to this, right? >> Correct. Yeah. Priority goals. if
there's things that you would love to see uh considered as part of the project moving forward um again I think sort of within through that lens um of thinking about um exterior interior design um but again if you need to branch out somewhere from there um I think that's
>> I can say plenty about those two >> y >> um >> sure um well sort of in terms of I I'll start with exterior so I something I work you know half my life is spent just you know messing and selecting materials Um, so I would I would really hope for
Medford, something we're focusing on is, you know, simplicity, longevity, um, timeless design, trying to do more with less. You know, this building is going to be around for a long time. It might not get the maintenance it requires. Um, unless, you know, we find more money
down the road to maintain our buildings. So, um, you know, simplicity and, you know, using simple materials. I think taking the existing building as a real um starting point. I mean, I imagine there's probably a world where some of
this building is going to stay. Um and so, you know, we should be thinking about how these things go together. Is there inspiration to take from the existing building? I think brick and concrete are pretty timeless themselves. And I I've said this to several people. I actually am very fond of certain uh
elements of the building. I know it a lot of people find it quite ugly. Certain parts of it are not great, but I think there's a lot to be learned from it. So, um I think that's a good starting point. Um and certainly just like simp simplicity, not adding a lot of different materials for the sake of
of adding more. Um on the interior, I I'm um the chair of my office's materials task force. So, I spent a lot of time talking about healthy materials and certainly within the breathable space. So, within the envelope of the building, if we can be, you know, red list free at a as a baseline across the
building, I don't think, you know, PVC has a place inside the building. Um unless you know I think we could be looking at things that are durable um timeless and um still really taking into consideration the you know the health and well-being of the occupants when
that really goes to students whose bodies are still developing and absorbing things around them to the teachers and staffs and people who spend you know decades inside the building and for whom you know their healthcare our city pays for. So I think um the occupant health and wellness is is critical and that should should really
drive some of the decisions made about definitely interior materials and also just things like trying not to be trendy, you know, simplifying the pallet, not adding materials where we don't need to add them just for, you know, decorative reasons. They should be serving a purpose like acoustics um you
know or um you know to soften a space or um you know define a different area. But I think being really careful about how we're selecting things um and making sure that they have a real reason to be there. I could go on forever, but um I'm going hold on. So I think those are my
biggest things are just, you know, I know we have to think about maintenance and things that are going to last the test of time, but let's not let that lead us down the path of sometimes more expected materials like vinyl and things like that. >> Thank you. Yeah. you know, I think
you're you're pointing to some of those um overlaps that I was mentioning earlier, certainly between uh the larger topic of sustainability um and material selection. I think that's something that we'll definitely uh dive into at a good level of detail.
All right, let me jump back then. All right. Uh Alex, yes. Hi. Here everyone. Can you hear? >> We can. Yep. >> So, great. Um, Libby, I think you you set the table really well. Um, some of
the things I was going to talk about were some of the things that you already mentioned. I I can also be a fan of concrete and brick because it does have longevity, but it's not to everyone's taste necessarily, and the existing building kind of testifies to that
brutalist nature. Um, one of my big uh functions at in my professional career is construction administration and management and and cost analysis. So
I think the topic of materials their their value for money value engineering is extremely important. You know what can you do? How can you do more with a little bit less? Because it always comes down to money at the end of the day, unfortunately.
Um, sustainability is a huge issue as well these days, rightly so. Every I I I'm mainly working in multifamily, residential, affordable housing these days, but I have um history in uh academic
science, that kind of thing. Um, but you know, sustainability in residential construction and in all construction these days is really key. So, are we going to go for passive house? Are we going to go for le? Are we going to go for this, that, or the other? How do we get that on board
early? Bring in any consultants that we need to do to for energy modeling and and so and so. Um, I definitely appreciate what Libby said about environmentally friendly materials. Vinyl is definitely not
environmentally friendly and there are many alternate materials for finishes and such that um are much more healthy um in terms of overall composition and massing. I mean, that's a discussion that you're going to have for days,
months, and you know, years probably. Um, and I also think it's extremely important. I know you have an OPM on board now, which is great. I don't know how this is going to be bid, whether it's going to be a 149 or whether it's
going to be a private bid. Um, CMS are invaluable at the earliest possible stages that you can have them on board because I think they have a better ear to the street in terms of cost and availability of materials and just experience in
building. So, I would certainly um push for that as soon as possible. Um, like I said, I've got 25 years of experience in this industry, a lot of construction involvement, so I'm happy to sort of overlap different groups like
sustainability, MEP, that kind of thing. Um, and thank you for having me. >> Thank you. >> Uh, Alex, just real quick on that, this is Malino from Left Field. Um, I'm having camera issues. Uh, nice to meet you. >> Um, >> of course. Yeah, we will we will
certainly go 149 149A. Uh likely likely 149A given the complex complexity of the project. Obviously, we have a little ways to go before we make that decision. But, you know, given the type of project, that's likely the the road we would go on and we certainly would bring
them on during schematic design. >> So, are you looking at this as being an MSBA project, cloud sub bid? Um, yes. Uh, and just not to not to hijack the the meeting, I can certainly
talk to you uh offline. I don't want to um get in the weeds with this type of stuff now, but I just wanted to chime in quickly. So, I'll hand it back over to you, Matt. I think that's important and I'm I'm not trying to hijack this either, but I think um at some point we need to make what this bureaucratic process is
extremely explicit to all involved because it's complicated and it can sometimes cause a lot of confusion. So I think that's an agenda item for possibly the next meeting. >> Yeah, completely agree. Explicit, transparent as well. Um, and I think
procurement is one of those um, sort of design adjacent topics that we can certainly um, dive into a bit as we go forward. >> Um, and I'm going to apologize now because I said I was going to do something and I did not. Um, and I know that Suzanne had to hop off, but I see Jesse has his camera off, so I'm
guessing he's now in motion um, potentially with others. I'm not sure if it's easier to talk now, Jesse, or um if you prefer to wait until you get to a certain place um later on in the process, but feel free to just uh unmute and chime in if you do want to get
going. Um if not, I will um jump to the next uh individual in the list. All right, I'm going to take it that you are still in transit. Um so I'm going to pass it over to Marta. Hi everyone. I feel so overwhelmed being
with all of these architects on the call and now I know when we talk educational lingo and um all of our acronyms, I now know how everyone feels. So um in thinking about my priority areas um for the exterior of the building, I agree
with Libby for the longevity of it. I don't want something trendy that is going to go out of style in 10 years and or 15 20 years and people are like what were they thinking doing an all glass building. I want it to be yes modern um for our students but also feeling warm
and welcoming. That being said um we are on like a beautiful plot of land here and not on a main road like many of our neighboring communities. So being able to have sight lines out to the fells,
sightelines out to like downtown Boston is really important because I think that that is something that is refreshing for students and for teachers to be able to see outside and see um the beautiful fowls that we have in our backyard. Um,
for the interior, I also want something timeless that's not going to go, like I said, out of style and be trendy just for a couple years. Um, cleanliness is super important for me. I have a pretty high standard of cleanliness. So, for as
long as I am here, whoever said that this building will be maintained inside. Um, so really like um walls and spaces that can be cleaned. I am always hesitant with like carpet and so forth, but like clean is very important and a
place inside that like people can see themselves in and be able to um adapt with the populations that we have in the school is really important to me as well. Um what else did I write down? Sight lines. So, I was fortunate enough
to go to many different schools, to visit schools, and I want to pre create more flexible spaces for students to be um and have more independence and responsibility um and self-control of themselves in the building. And for me, something that's
really important is just being able to have sightelines so that they're not hiding and huddling in in places that they're not allowed to be, but that like staff and um students can see each other um with the design inside the building.
And something that I've really seen in a lot of the school buildings that I've been is just bringing like Medford community or any of the communities that I've been to inside of the building. So, how can we make it timeless with things that we have in the building that make it feel like Medford High School in a
brand new space? Um, I think is something really cool that we have seen a lot of. Um, and of course our core values and our mascot that I think is so incredibly awesome of being like a Mustang. like how can we incorporate that so like when we're having
conversations with kids or we're having community events like they can actually see um Medford and what we believe in. I think that's it. And we I know Matt knows all about this, but like community spaces that hold all of us like community is really big for us. Um and
we're really trying to build that. So having spaces not only for Medford community but for our students and our staff to come together um and making that feel like a warm place. That's all for me. Off to you Matt.
>> Thank you. That was a wonderful list. >> Hello. Uh I figured out how to how to unmute while while in the car. I I was just aimlessly pushing things on my screen. Um, is now a bad time?
>> No, go go go right ahead. It's perfect. Actually, >> figure strike while the iron's hot. Um, >> uh, I will, you know, unabashedly just say that I'm going to sort of advocate from the angle of of, um, the visual and
performing arts. Um, it's, you know, where I am as a professional, um, and where my students, uh, you know, coming to Mass Art, I I usually find out what their high school art experience was like. Um, and as the parent of a uh
often traveling um orchestra participant, um I've gotten to sort of drop into all these different um spaces in in uh high schools around the area. And um so I my
priorities are uh as as a community resource, as a sort of representation of of the town of Medford, I'm I'm hoping uh that there'll be some uh that the sort of value of of the arts um in
education will will be uh readable in in any new structure um and not, you know, sort of uh tucked away into leftover spaces of a building but um really pushed forward um as as you know a
highly valued uh part of the community. >> I think that's all I need to say before I hit traffic and start um losing my concentration. >> All right. I appreciate your ability to multitask there. I think that was still very very articulate. So I appreciate
that. >> Thank you. >> Um All right. Um, so Gracel, I think you are next. Yep, >> that's the right. >> Okay, thank you. I'll get there. Yeah.
>> Um, I'm so impressed by Ley how she pulled it off right on the spot. Um, so I had to take some notes, but um, I think every, you know, everything that everybody said, um, sorry, my dog is like, why? Um I think for me number one
will be how to make this space safe and you know comfort uh and well-being for the students. Um I think you know architecture can create that environment that feels physically and emotionally safe for the people that not only work there but you
know mainly for the students. um how the classrooms can be flexible um layouts you sitting and community like Martha said. Um I'm not too familiar with what happens after school in the high school because
my my kids are in elementary school but like how do this how can this building be a community hub? Um uh what else? Uh I think we talked about maintenance and all of that which is one
of the trendy things that I've seen a lot in other new schools is the unfinished wood which looks beautiful the first couple of years and then it look it just doesn't weather well. So I would say um unless you guys have an
amazing material um that maybe another material will be preferable. sustainability. I think everybody kind of talked about that. Um, you know, but what is the connection of to nature? Um, which you know, like Martha said, we're
near the fells, right? Like I think, you know, whether it's lead or the building, what's it called? Buildings, uh, living challenge, which are great, you know, check marks. Um, what else can we do to connect students
to nature, right? like is there a space where students can take a class outside, right? I think that would be a great amazing um identity ride the mustangs right I think just having students maybe I don't know participate and creating a
mural anything that they will feel part of the space within um and accessibility um and you know again it's not just like a check mark of like a ramp or an elevator but like how are we making this space inclusive
um that's it thanks Thank you. All right. Uh Chloe, >> um hi. Um I just want to say like while we have to keep it simple, I kind of want to like make sure it's inclusive
and it has a lot of culture and it's like uniquely us. It's a representation of everyone in the community, the staff, the students, and I just want it to be a safe space for like every student to be able to come in the um the school and
just feel comfortable and relaxed and able to go on their day. Um yeah. Um, I also agree with what a few of you guys said with not making it trendy that it just looks weird in the
next 20 years. Um, sorry. Um, yeah, I think that's it. >> All right. I think you're getting a lot of head nods there from everyone that I could see. So, I think definitely on point in terms of the comments.
Um, Paul Right. I think the everything I was going to talk about has been mentioned, but like I said too, when we're deciding materials, if you're talking of 50 years, maybe flexible so things can be
easily changed if climate and all that takes the impact on the school um inside the school uh focus on the demographics of Medford. So that I think it's been mentioned too, but there's a
great variety of people in Medford to take that into account. Um, the entrances I think, you know, make them welcoming. So when people come in, they can easily figure out where they're going. So if it's an after hours thing, if they're going to the theater or they're going to
sports events or whatever, as you come into the school, it's easy to get where you're going. You don't have to go around asking people. Um, I think in the public areas too, if we can try to incorporate Medford
history, there's a lot of history from Medford going way back in in those public areas when you're getting people from out outside of Medford coming to events. I kind of like the idea of giving them information about where the city started
and what's happened because there's a lot of famous people too have come through Medford. um the the like a theater for doing my daughter did a lot of orchestra and my son did a lot of um band and the Karen
theater was nice but it was kind of tight and it would be nice to have a nice theater where you can do performances and those things. Um, I know my son was in robotics when he was at at the high school and
every time they needed to set up a testing room, we had to go searching for rooms and find one of them had like history of books and everything from history. Be nice to have some dedicated rooms where after hours clubs
can sign up or whatever and actually get the room whereas we had to, you know, fight to get a space to set up a table for them to do the robotic stuff. um flexibility in the rooms, you know, as times change and you know, it used to be very separated where it's high school
and it was vocational school. Now we're kind of combined. So it may be a time where you get more of one than the other. So it' be nice to be a little flexible have flexible rooms where you can adapt to that because when I was at the high school I had four brothers and
three of us graduate from the high school and two of two graduated from the vocational school way back when and um it'd be nice to be able to change change things quickly. And my daughter we I went through the elementary school
buildout so my daughter was at the Davenport school which I went to. So it was old. And um as we went through that process of defining what the Robert School in the Brooks and the Missuk, what they were going to incorporate into the um
the colors and the floors to make it a lively place, make sure it's not uh dull and dark, which I'm sure we will anyway. But there was when we went through the those designs for the those schools, the four elementary schools in
the two middle schools, it was um important to incorporate that into the the design. So my kids really like like we went to the my daughter went to the Davenport school and when we went to kindergarten when we left my wife was
crying because the school was so bad and for me it was like oh I went there this is cool my daughter's going to go there but my wife was like I can't believe we're sending her to this school. So it's uh it's it's good to upgrade to a better school. And my son was the first uh kindergarten class to
go through the Robbits. So his he was the first class that went from kindergarten through fifth. So we got to see the full scope of the Roberts middle school. I mean the Roberts elementary school too. So kind of a lot of experience there. And my wife was a nurse at the Roberts school nurse back
when my uh son was there. But I think that's more just make it inviting inviting and kind of give a little bit of medfit history and medfit high um for p the public to see. I think think
that's it. >> All right. I think a lot of the things that you touched on, Paul, I think Sarah has definitely uh piqued her interest on the the wayfinding um as well as >> I'm typing as quick as my little fingers can go for everybody. This is this is
really helpful. Thank you. >> All right. Um so we were at Suzanne. Um so I think we're gonna jump over to Jenny. Thanks. So, you know, one of the things that I've been um thinking a lot about
over the last couple of weeks as we um sort of separate from these advisory groups have been involved in some all day visioning about um what education should look like, right? Because that's the anchor of this design. Um, you know, one of the things that the students who
have joined us for for those conversations and I think we're sort of hearing from Khloe is like and from Marta is like this idea of like a sense of ownership and I think um I want to take that like one step further like I want us to build a building that expects
that ownership is going to change hands, right? So students spend four years in the building. what resonates with Khloe today is not going to be the same thing as what resonates with Jesse's youngest when he's in school or when Libbyy's
kids go to school. So I think um trying to create some like really intentional ways that the building is intended to be owned by students but in an evolving way that does not require like you know big
capital kinds of projects like you know we have to like hire people to repaint the hall like what are those ways that like ownership can like bring not just like the common spaces but classrooms to life like we were you know in a conversation ation we were having last week. One of the things I was thinking a
lot about is like if a classroom has, you know, let's say five or six classes that go through it on any given year, like is there like a corner of the classroom that's each class's responsibility to like own and maintain in some way that says like this is who
our class is? so that the people who come behind them in like period 4 like they can see something come out that like helps them create some connection to like who the other kids are who are sharing the space and a sense of accountability. So that's something I've been thinking a lot about is like how do
we like build a building and I don't I actually don't know how to do this or if it's possible but how do we build a building that like insists upon evolution when students are moving um through the space. Um, I'll also like mention that Jesse and I have had some
spirited conversations about um our Mustang logo and how like we should all coales around like a logo that maybe could be brought into the design. So maybe we can get that like knocked out at some point um ahead of all of this. Um, and then when I think about the
exterior of the building, like every time I'm on that soccer field being like blown over by the wind, um, I'm kind of struck by like this like untapped like incredible view of the skyline of the city of Boston that exists. And I'm
like, how do we have an event on the roof? And I think Ken would like die to hear me say that out loud. But but like there's these like amazing spaces and like just think about like the potential of some of these spaces if they could be
created in such a way that they're intended to be used for those kinds of things. And um I have a um I Paul shared an article with me like two years ago about this like middle school that was designed um and how like when kids get
to high school they want to have their senior prom at this middle school because there's like a river that like a brook that runs through and they like integrate it in into the design and it's this like really cool space and ironically it's in Oklahoma in the community that my husband grew up in and he was fascinated because he didn't
think that was a thing where he was from like he's like are you sure that's like warers because I lived there and nothing like that was happening there when I lived there. Um, but like thinking about not just a space that like students own,
but that they want to be in even in those times where they're like doing something where you would traditionally be like, I want to not be in this space, right? Like how do we create a space that kids want to be in is uh something I'm thinking about especially for the
exterior. And when we talk about um like what is possible about playing fields and all of those things that happen outside um and then the other thing I would say is like the way finding is like pretty important. I get lost in the building all the time. Um
and then the last thing I'll mention is that um there's all these like cool artifacts particularly in the beastro that have been plucked out of different old buildings across the city of Medford. Um, but you would never know the significance of any of those things unless you sat with somebody who has
like been around for, you know, for would call themselves a D a Medford for dinosaur and has been around for a million years and um like there's like a light fixture and they're like that's from the original Brook school and I'm like how cool. So like how do we like bring those elements in but also like
put a sign so you don't have to know somebody who would call themselves a dinosaur to know that that light came from somewhere kind of cool, right? So there's like just such an opportunity like for the building I think to tell its own story that we should explore it.
I think that's it. That's all I've got because I'm not actually an interior or exterior designer. >> No problems there. Um that was great. Thank you. Um Brian, I think you're up next. >> There we go. Sorry. Uh,
so maybe I guess I think I'm in a little bit of a unique situation and a little bit of background. I there's a lot of educators in my family. Um, and my my dad is a teach a high school teacher and I grew up went to actually a private
school but we had our own sort of CTE um component. So I grew up around this kind of a school and uh our son is in the robotics and engineering like I said he's a junior so I have really strong uh
feelings about the CTE as well. Um so I'm a huge advocate there and I know how important it is to the community to the kids and to the teachers. If I parallel that and couple that with my experience in architecture and actually, you know,
working on these big schools, public schools and high schools, um I feel like I'm in a pretty unique position, like I said, to um I see myself as a liaison between what uh what comes at us and filtering that and and working with all
the teachers and being on the school board, the sorry, the school building committee. actually allows me a lot of access to all the people and I've been getting a lot of questions and a lot of feedback and u I so I'm happy to to be here and I'll go out on a limb and say that I'm
actually um really excited for what SIMS SMMA and left field bring to the table because I know their finger is on you know the pulse of what's out there as far as materials and the cost analysis and what's hip and not
hip and you know, um, going to be great in 50 years. I'm like I I think we get to react to that, but I have a ton of confidence that they're going to come up with a really good product and really good things. And what I'm really really interested in is
programming like space planning and program, you know, making sure that everybody sees the end result as an enduser. And and I think that the phasing is going to be really big too and that it's going to be important uh
for me to help explain maybe what's going to some of the impacts between what's um the ideas behind the phasing and what it actually means in reality. And I I I think there's great opportunities because obviously we know we have a great site and we know in a very unique situation. We have a ton of
land, but it's a really complicated project and I'm excited. I'm excited to like I wish I was back on the other end of the table because these are the things that make a project like this great. Um, so I I've also spent, you know, somebody already mentioned we've
we've had the student development meeting and I really want to adhere to some of the things that were uh just put out there. These are sort of our guiding principles from the students perspective and tomorrow you know we have the teaching and learning meeting that all
day meeting as well and we'll be able to coalesce that and and filter that through. I think it's going to be really uh amazing to watch this come together and like I said I know there's a lot of really good professionals behind
uh this entire process and we're going to benefit benefit from it and and I think um again being hyper aware of what's coming at us and then being able to help disseminate some of that information or
get some behind thes scenes questions uh from particularly the CTE people who are, you know, they're concerned because they have such specialty spaces, but also being on the building committee. Uh I I'm I'm just I I'm one of the people who really I'm not concerned because I
know this is going to is it's going to be a a long process, but it's going to be a great result. Um so I mean I'm right now I'm I'm I don't have a ton to say like uh I just I feel fortunate to be here. I'm super excited for the
community, but the kids, uh, they're coming up through the system and and I know, you know, again, the experts behind this and trying to sort of get the scheduling right for the new school so that the CTE and, you know, more of the academic wing mesh a little bit
better. And you know, I'll end on the note that one of the things that came up already in the student development meeting was there's going to be sort of a paradigm shift for the way the kids learn, the
way the teachers teach uh moving forward so that they're when the building opens in 2030 that they walk into a space that they're ready for. And to me, that's really
important. So it is again it's it's a very big picture but it's it's going to be a learning curve right out of the box and there's going to be a lot of changes but it you know everything doesn't change when we get to the new building.
It changes now and we're we're ready for it and I'm I think that's going to be an amazing process. So all right >> here we go. >> Thank you Brian. Um, Den, is Den someone that was here or not
here? Think in the not here category. Okay. Uh, so Ken, that means you're up. >> Cool. Thanks. So, um, over my career, I've been heavily involved in whole and part about seven school building projects. So, I've seen a lot of decisions that are made in the process
and the before and the after effects. And some of the things I'm really interested in is the durability of the materials. You know, there was one project that I was involved in. It was a new elementary school built from scratch, but they used too much drywall and that those services became damaged too easily and it just made the building
look bad over over time. Another project I was involved with was a renovation addition of a high school and they used a lot of glazed block in the hallways which was very durable and they also did the same materials in the new sections and the renovations and the old sections. they redid it. So, you really
unless you knew the building, you really couldn't tell the difference between the old and the new. So, that's of particular interest to me. Um, I know Jenny made a joke about the the rooftop access, but I have to buildings that did have purpose-built rooftop areas for
classroom use, and it allowed those upper areas of the building easy access to like an outdoor learning area, whether it be tied to science or being able to view the fowls around us and everything else. So, there is good opportunity for that. Um, >> it's not a no. That's what I'm hearing.
>> Just no. No high heels on the rubber roof. That's all. So, no. >> Okay. Okay. >> Um, maintenance is of particular importance to me. Make making sure the building materials that we use are easily maintained and the building itself is easily cleaned. Um there was
one school we had that had a hallway with a um it was a second floor hallway and you could see down to the first floor and beyond that was a window with big bars over it but you couldn't reach it to clean it and so that was always that ugly spot in the building even though it was meant to be a beautiful
area. Um our custodial staff is taxed with maintaining our grounds outside the building. So making sure that they're easily maintained and so they're not you know that they won't get deteriorated quickly. um that we're dealing with runoff water from the building on those
exterior areas that it's not washing away the landscaping and things and and and dealt with properly. Um although this is a high school, we have our kids corner program. We have uh and other programs we need playground space and making sure those playground spaces are
appropriately designed and have everything they they need. um the ease of cleaning of the building, making sure we don't have waxed floors. You know, that that that process of having to empty the room, strip the floors, wax the floors is so disruptive. Plus, the
odors and the smells and dissolve, you know, it it takes up so much cleaning time in the summer, it really impacts how the building can be used. And making sure we have enough display space for student work and artwork. There's purpose-built spots that we could have
student murals done so it's not just kind of like attack on after the fact that you know nicely designed and um uh plenty of space to hang things and ways to hang things that aren't going to damage the walls so that you know you're not you know 6 months in and there's pin holes everywhere and and stuff like
that. So those are the kind of things that I'm really interested in in making sure that we kind of consider. >> Great. Appreciate that perspective, Ken. All right. I think Nicole was not here. Um, just confirming that's still the
case. Miss her. Um, so I think we're gonna flip over to Jen or Jennifer. Do you prefer Jennifer or Jen? >> No, Jen's fine. I just don't change it. Um, so I uh these have all been really
great. I have no architectural experience, but I have worked in this building for 18 years and I've had kids go through the building. So, mine are going to everything people said I agree with. I'm going to focus kind of more like Marta on um like how how it exp
feels like being in the building and like I don't know um I know we talked about the building materials and I don't know how much of this you guys have the ability to change but the flow driving into the building in the morning the traffic flow that one one entrance where
the cars are crossing over and I've been here long enough that we've had the teacher parking is moved a little bit the student parking has moved a little bit um people try to drive around the building and then realize they can't at uh for sporting events or I I've been stuck behind a bus trying to like I
don't know have to try to drive around and it's the corners aren't big enough to get buses around the so all that um you can't circle around the building you know you get stuck at one end um as a parent I cannot tell you how many people
have gotten lost going to the gym because I don't think it's clear and like the entrance now that's been open for this year says pool entrance which is fine. Like I know where it is and it's but you walk in and like it's it's not clear. You have to kind of go upstairs and you have to so better
signage or like a welcoming front of the building or very clear like this is where you go for sporting events because it's it's I think our building is used all the time after school sometimes during school um weekends and I it's
people get lost there all the time. Um, in terms of, uh, I took notes as well. Um, in terms of, um, inside the building, everyone was talking about like representing our students in our school, we do such a good job right now. We have so many like bright colorful
murals that kids have painted in the building. If we can have spaces like every year, you know, the National Art Honor Society does stuff like that, like maybe every year, every other year, the kids can paint it. you don't, but if you have a space designed for that or multiple spaces designed for that, then
letting the kids paint on those spaces is acceptable. And so that would be really great to have it um throughout the buildings. A couple of the buildings I've seen, I feel like they have a lot of very white spaces, the newer ones. And I agree with Marta, we want to keep the building clean, but sometimes maybe
like the walls don't have to all be white, too. Um, and I think the kids have been really good at putting like colored stuff. Like there's just tons of murals in our building. Um classrooms have them, hallways have them, and I would hate to not have the ability to do that. And then like Jenny said, like
classrooms can have ways to again hang things up, have the kids do something every in their classrooms. Again, paint is a pretty easy thing for to change without having to like uh but also like my classroom has cinder block walls on
three of them and then I don't even know what the back wall of the building is made out of. It like crumbles when you stick a tack in it. Um I don't know if Ken knows what I don't even know what material it is. It's but um so I it's really hard to hang stuff up, right? And
then so the only way to do it is use like something like you know you're doing glue, you're doing lots of things and that's going to peel the paint and it's and so having lots of materials that are friendly to hang stuff up, bulletin boards, I don't know how I don't know
what the best materials would be, but that kind of stuff on the walls. The more that we can do that, that way we can alter the school to represent the kids that are in it, you know, without doing big money projects. Like teachers are willing to decorate stuff, kids are willing to help out. They like doing
that kind of stuff. Um, you know, this year they painted the parking lot, like things like that where it doesn't like cause, but if if if the bu it doesn't cost a lot of money, but if the building's set up for that already, then you can do that every year, every couple years. Um, so I thought that was really
cool. some suggestions that people had. Um, right now the academics and the CTE the shops are >> I apologize. I am the world's worst timekeeper, but I'm mindful that we're getting close to the end of the time. Um, and I just want to make sure that we
have the ability. I think we have three more folks that haven't spoken yet. So, I apologize um in terms of having to jump in. >> Um, >> do you want me to finish? I have two more things >> or you want me to go That's fine. C can we hold them maybe and if we have time
at the end I'm I'm certainly welcome to circle back or we're certainly welcome to circle back. Okay. Um >> you can drop them in the chat too. We can >> Thanks J. >> That would be fantastic. It's a great option. Um Paul, >> hello. Um so I won't repeat everything
that's wonderful that I've heard tonight. Um I will say that you know I looked at like the Architectural Digest has this edition of most beautiful high school in each of the 50 states. Um, and I thought maybe three of them were
remotely beautiful and the rest were that you could have then they meant they were nothing. They were just giant structures and somebody's like, "This is the nicest one in our state." Um, I think Mississippi had like this incredible one. But anyways, um
and you know, I've been driving by schools under construction, you know, uh Water Town, um since they started it. And uh in Newton, there's a school I was driving by for years that they were building um a massive elementary school.
And um the Newton one actually is beautiful and impressive and memorable. Um, the water temp one. I mean, they had the worst sight on earth, so I'm not judging anybody here, but it is,
you know, effectively the same as what you'd think of and you think of high school. And when we are in high school or we have kids that are in high school, we care about the high school. And I'm not saying that after that we don't care. Um, I will say it's far it becomes in
the rearview mirror until you have perhaps have grandkids there. Um, and so the majority of voters do not have kids in our schools. And I think that them having pride, like a visceral pride,
is a very valuable asset because with Prop 2 and a half, no, we're not going to do an override next year. But there's no universe really where we don't end up having to do more of them unless we can do an assembly rattle in Medford. Um, and it
would be nice if the voters had so much pride in this high school, whether it's they drive up because they have to see the superintendent or we have a school committee meeting there or they have kids there, whatever. Um, you know, right now I know people who have driven up to the high school
and been like for kindergarten registration and been like, "Oh, well, I guess we'll go through eighth grade." Like, they would not go. And they don't know how great the teaching is going on in there. Um, they don't know what's inside. Um, and I think that is a
mistake to not think of that as a critical um, tool when we want to ask for more money because we're never going to get the school budget down to 2 and a half%. It's not going to happen. U, so
if we're going to keep asking the the voters, which is not just the parents, I think we need to make sure this building knocks their socks off. whether it's because they're coming to a public meeting because there's finally more. Medford has so little public meeting space. It's a real problem. The library
was like a godsend, but that's not enough. Um, so, you know, we I mean, aside from the pool and all that, we had a lot of opportunity to make this building inviting. I think that some people talked about, you know, I I agree like
the giant white spaces that you you're kind of like gh um you get lost because everything looks the same. That's all very important. But um I do think because of our site, we have an opportunity that many other school
cities and towns just don't have any any chance at having um a building that wows the community. And I know that's just the face of it, but I would like our students and our staff who are there for a lot more than four years to like
regularly drive up and be like, I can't believe I get to work here or I can't believe I get to go to school here. And what's going on inside the building is obviously the most important thing. But when you're rushing through the halls to get to your class, that's not something you'll ever think of. It's not a feeling
you will have. And it is something that you can have when you're driving up to the school. So, my time's up. Sorry. >> Thank you, Paul. Appreciate that. Um, all right. I think it's Dia next and
then Eric. You guys will close us out. >> Okay. Um, I just wanted to echo a lot of what um you all have said and and um reinforce it, especially regarding um the health and environmental concerns that you've raised. Um um just to kind
of piggyback a little bit on um Paul's kind of more communityf facing comments. Um I I might just couch some of the things I'll say by the by the um by the fact that most of my professional work um deals with design and planning in the
context of conflict or after a disaster. And so what that has taught me has been that um civic spaces, public spaces are real cultural assets that we turn to
particularly in times of crisis. Um they are symbolic of cultural heritage. They are beacons of hope. They are places for gathering. um they are critical um um um indicators
of you know the state of our democracy etc etc right so the that there are some really real um social values that are attached to um places like schools and in in terms of the ways in which they
sit in our communities. Um, and so maybe, you know, practically speaking, not that we have to design for catastrophe, but, um, practically speaking, what that may translate into is, um, what I'd love to see is a school that's rooted, a school that's rooted in
the history and memory of a place. Um, and and a wholesome history. Um, one that is, um, inclusive in its reach and its representation. Um, that makes space for that. um a a a
school that is um designed in part with some some thought to scenarios or sto storytelling. You know, what is it like at drop off? You know, what is that first introduction on a daily basis to the school? What is it as a space of
community gathering? Uh you know, what is it a space what how is it a space that invites in nature that looks to nature? you know, given the that that the the Fels is a neighbor. Um um what is this, you know, how is it a school of
experimentation of performance? I mean, I think these are some of the points that um my fellow committee members have have already raised. So, just to echo um and so I guess I would I would um reinforce the the importance of context.
um love to see a school that's really rooted in its historical context, in its community context that really um uh makes gestures um both inwardly and outwardly. Um um um um and and then also thinks a lot
about um creative spaces, quiet spaces, kind of all of these kind of more affective qualities that we would like to see and imagine our our kids um and our and our staff um um um really taking advantage of. Um and and just to end to
say and to reinforce the the importance of this school in this community um both at this kind of hinge point. It's a a place for our students to attend a place where our teachers teach our kids in the
present but it's rooted in this community's history and it's also gesturing towards the future. And you know this is these all need to be interpreted and and materialized. I know, but but just to to to kind of anchor us in some kinds of of some kind
of a design philosophy of sorts. Um um I think I think that'd be something that I'd love to to talk more about. >> Thank you. Appreciate all those aspirations. I think that's exactly what we're trying to do here is sort of set the stage for how we're going to be working moving forward.
All right, Eric, you are up. Next time we'll go reverse alphabetical order. So, you're going to be first. We'll just throw >> this is fine. Don't don't worry. Don't worry. I mean, I think one of the things that's really important to me is just how we see this school, but all schools in Medford is an asset. I mean, people
move to different places because the schools are good. They live in communities. They want to go places because the schools are great places for their kids to be, whether it's safety and security or the education they're receiving. I mean, just making sure that we think about how 20 years ago, we
never could have expected we'd be living in the world we're living in. And there's no way we could predict what will happen in 20 years. So, creating flexible, adaptive spaces so that the trained educators we have can make the best choices for our children, can provide a good civic environment for our
community, can allow for spaces that are used, you know, around the clock, maybe not 247, but certainly more than they are now. It's a place where people want to go. I think the library is a great example of, you know, an updated community resource where people are now going there for all kinds of maker
spaces and language lessons and puzzle nights and everything you can imagine under the sun. So, I would hope that our schools um you know, do the same thing. And you know, also keeping in mind that like as technology changes, as pedigogies change, as learning
environments change, we're really going to see something different than we all experienced. So, while I want to cling to the things that were great for me, I know that my kids and their kids will get something that we haven't even considered. So, putting the school in a place that it can adapt and change to be
what we needed to be, you know, 30 years down the road, too. >> Thank you. >> That was great. And I really appreciate um sort of the variety of perspectives um and the expertise and sort of the the
energy shared here as well. Um, I'm going to try and pull up the um PowerPoint just to close us out here. Hopefully, this is up for everybody now. Um,
and I just want to just remind us on terms of next steps. Um, again, we're going to take all of these uh topics um and we're going to try to find overlaps synergies between them uh so that we can talk to them um and review them with you the next time
around. Um we'll get into a little discussion on some um that really warrant a need um some additional sort of thought and and sort of airspace behind them. Um and then we're also going to have uh subsequent meetings um to really confirm sort of that
discussion um and start to formulate recommendations and then um get to a point where we can review those and then prevent present them back to uh the build full building committee as a recommendation. Um and then just to give um a little bit
of a preview here um I think we we touched on a lot of these um topics. We may have covered all of them in terms of the various things that have popped up. Um but we want to make sure that um the next um
discussion that we have both reflects um what was brought up and then sort of fills in any gaps as well in terms of things that just need to be uh touched on. But again, I think I heard um topics that really uh touched on all of these. So I think this is just sort of for reference and for uh reflecting back.
Um, and then just a reminder that again we're middle of January is the next time we're going to get together. Um, I think we flipped up the timing so that this group is actually going to be from 4:00 to 5:30. Um, and I did put in remote hybrid there. I think the the wonderful thing about this all remote u virtual
setup is that it really facilitates um people u participating everywhere that you are. Um, you can log in and that is there's something great about that. Um there's also something great about being able to sort of be in person and have some of these conversations face to face. Um, so I think we won't try to
preclude it necessarily moving forward, but if we may shift to a hybrid approach uh where we give people that opportunity if they want to get together um and facilitate that. And I know that we're just increasing the degree of difficulty um for Ken and folks in terms of the organization of it, but um I know that
we do the building committee meetings um as a hybrid format so we can get that to work um if we move forward. Um but that's really what to look forward to. Um and again, really appreciate everyone getting together. A special thanks to the folks that have done this twice now and I know there's sort of a groundhog
day aspect um to this activity sometimes when we're sitting in multiple versions of the meeting uh of the different advisory team meetings but um I think the thing that comes through in all of these and came through today um is sort of the unique energy and perspective that comes um from this particular group
and really do look forward to uh working with everyone moving forward um just to advance the conversation and really to help crystallize some of these thoughts. about how they guide the design for the high school. So, thank you to everyone. I think we're a minute early here. Um,
and I hope everyone has a nice evening.