Is it mother? >> You are not the only one. >> Okay, >> thanks. >> I was thinking Matt is always such a clear speaker. >> I know. >> Wasn't adding up. >> Yeah. >> That that any better or does it feel
better? Yeah, I think you're just going to have to speak a little louder. >> That's the idea. Okay. >> Yeah. for the folks that are just joining us. Um, apparently my audio is a little bit
underperforming today. Um, if it does not seem like it gets better, certainly any of the members or any of the participants are welcome to just keep raising your hand. I can try even unplugging the headphones and the mics and just doing off the uh >> I would suggest
>> trying it already because it's it's tough. All right. Can somebody find something? >> Okay. How about How about that? Matt, want to try again? >> Can you hear me? >> It's a little better. Still a little echoey.
Oh. All right. Well, if it's a little better, we'll just have to go with that. And I will try and talk as loud as I can if that's helpful. >> That's much better though, Matt. Just so you know, better. >> All right. Good. Because if not, I'm just going to turn around and say Helen
has to run meetings. So, that's what's going to happen. Uh, all right. So, I think we have hopefully the critical mass at this point. Um, like I said, we just give people a few minutes to jump in here. Um, but I think it's probably good to
get going. Um, so I'm just going to start off and say, uh, welcome um to our advisory team meeting um, for the Medford High School project that is focused here on educational planning and equity. Um so we'll get into a little bit of what that means uh moving
forward. Um but I just want to start off with um a quick agenda so that you know what we're going to be covering. Um we're going to do a quick round of introductions um both for the project team um as well as the advisory team um
so the Medford participants um right up front. Um and then we're really going to cover um what this advisory team process is about. Um we know that there's a lot of meetings involved with this project. Um some people may say too many meetings, some people maybe not enough.
Um but um this is a critically important topic to the development of the project. Um and so that is why we have a special advisory team um set up for this topic of educational planning and equity. And we'll get into a little bit more about what that means. Um, but right after
that, we're going to uh dive directly into um hearing from all the team members um because that's really what we're here for. Um we want to hear about your priority goals um either you individually um or the department uh the group um that you represent. And um
there'll be a certain set amount of time that we'll figure out for the um for everyone to speak depending on how many members that we have team members we have online with us today. Um, and if there's not enough time for anyone to say anything, uh, we can certainly or say everything that they want to say, we
can accept written comments after the fact. Um, and then we'll close out by just looking forward to the next meetings and what to expect there. All right. Um, so we're going to start with the introductions and again we'll let the design team go first and I will
start things off. Um, my name is Matt Rice. I'm an architect and I'm the principal in charge for SMMA. And I am Helen Fantini. I am also an architect, but I am project manager for this project. >> Hi, I'm Rosemary Park. I just want to
make sure, can people hear me? >> I've been having a lot of audio issues. >> Uh I'm Rosemary Park, um architect and educational programmer and designer with SMMA. >> Hi everyone, I'm Sella Jena. I'm an architectural designer at SMMA.
Hi everyone, Mike Pollo, educational planner with MLP integrated design. >> Hi everyone, I'm Jen Carlson, project director for uh the project with Leftfield. We are the owner's project manager. Uh apologies, I will be driving soon, so if you if I disappear, that is
why. Also, Adele. >> Hi, I'm Adele Sans. I'm the education liaison for Left Field. >> Right. And and Matt Galino is also with Left Field. I think he is not on with us this evening, but we the other face that
you see before you. Um now I'm going to shift gears over to the team. Um so what I would appreciate is if everyone could have their cameras on. Um as long as you're not again driving or in some other way that having a camera on would
not be a safe thing to be doing. Uh, but it's really helpful for us to be able to put a name and a face together. So, I will just read through um I know that there's a few folks um that may be joining us a little bit late um due to
some ongoing uh things um within the district and some that have not been able to make it today. So, I think Will may help us out as well if there's folks that reached out to him in advance um and told him that we're they're not able to make it. Um, so I'm just going to augment the number uh that we have here
and then figure out how much time we have available for everyone to speak. Um, so if you could just um introduce yourself um and really briefly your connection to the project um that would be helpful and then we'll we'll move forward. But we'll start off with Joan.
>> Hi everyone. Joan Bowen, director of student services for Medford. Um, I'm part of the I'm working with everyone about what the classrooms and things will look like going forward as as our educational plan. >> Great. Uh, Martha,
>> um, Marta's unable to be here today, but she should be here um, in January. >> Great. Uh, Nicole. All right, I'm going to take that Nicole is not here. >> She She is on the call, but maybe >> Oh, maybe having some audio issues.
>> Oh, sorry, I couldn't unmute. I apologize. Hi, I'm Nicole. Can you hear me? Okay, >> we can hear you. >> Awesome. Hi, I'm Nicole Kza. I'm the director of English language arts and social studies. Happy to be here. >> Is chat on? Will >> uh principal Fallon's not on? No.
>> Okay. I know I saw Suzanne. >> Hi everybody. It's nice to see you all again. Um Suzanne Galooi, interim superintendent. Um really excited for this project and to continue the work that we've already been starting and ongoing. Um thanks for
being here and taking the time. Uh, Jenny. >> Everyone, I'm Jenny Graham. I'm the vice chair of the school committee and the chair of the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee >> and a parent.
>> Okay. Uh, Sydney. >> Hi, I'm Sydney Hamill. I'm a student. I'm a junior. >> Excellent. Thank you for joining us this evening, Sydney. Uh, Katherine. >> Hi. I'm Katherine Hatch. Um, I teach at
Medford Academy, which is one of the alternative programs at Medford High School. >> Nice. Fa. >> Hi, I'm Fisa Khan. I am the director of mathematics for the district. >> Megan.
>> Uh, Megan and then also Rebecca upcoming. Wasn't able to be here today. >> Okay. Um, Colleen. Hi, I'm Colleen Mahanny. I'm a special education teacher and reading specialist at the high school.
>> Maline. >> Hi everyone. I'm Maline Mcdana, an English teacher at the high school. >> Dana. >> Hi, I'm Dana McMahon. I'm a social studies teacher at the high school. >> Uh, Chelsea.
>> Hi, I'm Chelsea Mcniff. I'm the EL director for Medford Public Schools. >> Anyone? >> Hi, I am the programming and web development teacher at Medford Vocational Technical High School and a parent.
>> Um, Aaron. >> Uh, hi everybody. Uh, my name is Aaron Ol. I'm on the Medford School Committee, former student of MHS, and I'm really excited to be here. >> Thank you. And then uh Rob and Stacy weren't able to make it today.
>> Robert >> Oh, sorry, Matt. But um Rob and Stacy upcoming weren't able to be here today. >> Okay. Um so Amarie, >> hi. I'm Amarie Riggus. I am the parent of a middle schooler and an elementary
school student in Medford. Thanks for having me. >> Thank you. And I am noticing that we need to fix the spelling of your name. I apologize for that. we will correct those things moving forward. Um, Norman, >> hey, I'm Norman. So, uh, I work at the
high school. I'm a teacher and I teach in the biotechnology program. >> Thank you. I'm sorry I did not get your last name and so I was unable to put um the face, but obviously you know um Cooper.
>> Oh, sorry. Sorry, I meant to say that. Could be that track practice. >> Okay. Uh, Kim. >> Hi everyone. I'm Kim Talbet, the assistant superintendent of Medford Public Schools, and I'm excited to join you in this work this afternoon.
>> Thank you. We'll ask John. >> Hi, my name is John Wilson. I'm a biology and anatomy teacher up at the high school. >> All right, perfect. So, we're going to jump into sort of the the
process here in terms of um what these advisory teams are um and what we're trying to achieve uh through this particular meeting um and really we'll talk a little bit about why this particular advisory team is a slightly um different organization um or some
potential outcomes from it. So the advisory teams overall um are really intended as a way to collect um diverse stakeholder feedback from a wide variety of voices um within the community of Medford. All right.
In terms of educational planning, um that is really at the heart of um the project that we're engaged in right now. We are designing a high school. There's a lot of other amazing things um that happen in and around the high school. Um but at its heart this is a high school design project and so there's a lot of
different educational planning visioning um programming activities that we're currently engaged in. Uh we had an amazing meeting uh yesterday on the visioning front over at the high school. So there are a lot of familiar faces. Um I feel like this particular group um it's less about introducing ourselves to
each other but it's really more about finding a forum um to have a little bit more deeper discussion on particular topics um that have come up and and will come up as part of the process as we move forward. Um, and so it's really important to have this space um to be
able to have those conversations um because there's even just coming out of the visioning meeting yesterday, there's a lot of really interesting ideas that were thrown um around and and put out there into the world. Um and it's really a great opportunity to be able to to
have conversations on those. Um so that's what we're going to be doing as part of um this particular advisory team. Um but the other advisory themes that are um up on screen now sustainability and MEP system site safety and security as well as extra
interior design these are not things that will be talked about um in the absence of educational paying and equity. This is very much intentionally represented as a ven diagram um where the topics overlap um and there is there's overlapping membership um
between the advisory teams intentionally um so that the same people are hearing the same things and have the ability to um relay um thoughts um to different constituencies um that we're going to be talking to um as part of the process and
and this particular forum the advisory team is it's is much about us being able the project team being able to listen to all of you to the metric community um but it's also about um the individual members being able to hear from each other um and so it's with educational
planning and equity again it's a little bit different because everyone does have a familiarity generally there actually a couple new phases here um which is actually really exciting to be able to pull additional um thoughts and perspectives into this process u but we're going to be building on something here and we're going to have the ability
to dive in a little bit deeper on particular particular topics as we move forward. Um we're really excited that Mike Perolo is able to join us for this discussion as well. He's been the one leading the visioning process that a lot of us have been participating in. Um and
so we really do value his perspective um in this conversation as well as we move forward um just to be able to again further the discussions that we've already been having. So again, the goal here, and this is more
or less what I was just covering, but with some better pictures to look at in terms of just having something up there on screen. Um, we're actually not going to be sort of focusing on the nuances of any of these uh spaces. Today, uh what we're going to be doing today is really
just trying to hear um priority goals or sort of important takeaways potentially um that you have been engaged in whether it's been coming out of the school tours uh that we've done, the shadowing day in shadowing day, the programming meetings
um or the visioning sessions. if you've been able to participate um in some of those um we'd love to be able to hear um their thoughts um that have sort of risen up and sort of maybe things that are top of mind um because it's always good to sort of vocalize those as
opposed to holding on to them and turn until the next opportunity. So this is really our next opportunity for engagement. I would say that if you have not participated in any of those prior activities um that's certainly not a problem at all. Um again we sort of welcome those fresh perspectives in that
scenario what we really want to do is hear from you what are your priority goals for the project. Um again um everyone here have a connection uh to Medford High School. So we want to understand what that is and really what what your aspiration is to to see um and
be a part of um when the building is completed. Um so that's that's really what we're going to be running through as we move forward. Um just to help um conceptualize where we are in this process, um we are looking to open the new high school or or substantially
renovated high school um in the fall of 2030. Um so that's all the way on the right hand side of our timeline. Um we're on the left hand side of our timeline, the feasibility study right at the outset of the project. And stars that you see are the touch points that we have for these advisory team
meetings. Um so the second meeting um that we'll have coming up is scheduled for um January 13th. Um hopefully already everyone has those invites and we'll be scheduling um the third and the fourth meeting um as we come and move forward. Um in terms of the cadence of
the meetings, um this meeting today is really a listening meeting. We want to hear as much as possible from everyone. Um and we're going to be taking that feedback and using that to craft the agenda and the topics uh for the subsequent meetings. Um in that second
meeting in January, we will be um compiling um the feedback that we going to be hearing and then we're going to be diving into a little bit more discussion on every one of those um and there will be opportunities for some dialogue back and forth. Um we're going to come back in that third meeting um which will be a
little bit later um in the feasibility study process. um we're going to go through a confirmation process just to make sure that we've been hearing um what the advisory team is going to be um saying and suggesting that is included in the project. And then coming out of that third meeting, we're also going to
come up with a set of recommendations. Um so this advisory team um is not a decision-making body but what it is going to be doing as a mechanism is sending uh feedback recommendations back to the full building committee and the full building committee is going to be the one that actually makes that
decision um to have something and include in the project. So that's just the mechanics of how we're going to be working. we do get together um one final time a fourth time just to make sure that all of these recommendations are clear um and that we're there's consensus agreement in terms of what we
move forward with. So um with that I'm going to stop sharing my screen now um so we can all see each other. I am going to just do the quick math in
terms of how many people are here which I think around 19 people and I think we have about 65 minutes. So we should each have about three and a half minutes um to talk. Um and so I'll
just run through alphabetical order. Um I think going forward I'm probably got to switch it around the reverse alphabetical order just to keep everybody on their toes. Um, but if if people go over the three minutes and 30, I will uh interrupt you. Um, unfortunately, and I this is what I
struggle with most in these meetings because I am not an interrupting person. Um, so I will try to be managing it and if there's folks that just don't need to take that full three and a half minutes, that's fine. We'll try to bank that as we go. Um, and I'll just keep an eye on things as we move forward through the process.
All right. Um, let me just jump back to the list everybody up and I think we're going to start with Jones. >> Hey everyone. Um, so I think what I'm
looking for is um equitable learning services for our students with disabilities. Um we have a wide variety of needs, different programming um and to be able to have those spaces that um
promote learning, promote um equity for all of our students. Um what that looks like. I I you know, we've been part of the um the meetings and seeing many different schools and um I I I like the collaborative working
spaces. I like to have students to be able to continue the services that they're currently receiving. So students in our access program still have um in project transition have those the the apartment and those sort of life skills
opportunities that that they're getting now that those continue as well. >> All right. Thank you, John. >> Yep. >> All right. Um so I know Marta is not able to join. Um Nicole
I think was here. >> I think she was having a slight Zoom um >> oh challenge. Okay. >> Remind me to circle back then if we um if we get Nicole back with us. Um so I think we're going to pivot over to
Suzanne. Hi everyone. Um, so I just to kind of like maybe extend a little what Joan had said, we have had the privilege of doing a like digging into a lot of this work. Um, and having
been in the district my whole career and also seeing some of the work that was done on I guess what we are no longer calling the new schools, the new K8 schools. Um, I think what's important is trying, we're never going to be able to
like anticipate too much, but trying to be able to create spaces um that are flexible enough so that we have um we can deal with the learning environments that we want to create for our students. We have the opportunity to
really be looking at a high school that is the flagship for our community. Um, here in Medford, I think it's wonderful that our play spaces, our schools are really truly community spaces. And now at the high school here with bringing our
Curtis Tus students up, creating an early childhood program, really looking at what we want to see for the education of our high school students. we really have an opportunity to create um what we envision education to be and
our community spaces to be. So trying to do something that is going to grow with the community and meet the needs not just for what's happening in the next 10 years but for years to come seems a little daunting but trying to create
spaces that are flexible that yes are equitable are cooperative um collaborative and really bring a sense of community together. Um, we don't have large spaces
to be able to break out and and for teachers to grab classes together, for administrators to have meetings together, to host community meetings, um, and our art spaces are not
really meeting the needs of our community um, and our students. So, I really could probably go on for five minutes about the the things I'd like to see in this space, but I think if I had to like distill it down, it would be about community and flexibility.
>> That's great, Susan. Thank you. >> Yeah, >> Jenny, you were up next. >> Thanks, Matt. Um, I actually have the like lucky good fortune to sit on all of these advisory committees. And part of
the reason I'm doing that is because I'm like taking copious notes on who I need to like call on when various things come up that like I think they inevitably will over the course of this project. So, I'm just like really always very interested to learn from the expertise
of everybody in the room. Um, and when I think about like educational equity, I I think the thing that's on my mind is like what does it look like in motion instead of like in the word salad that we use
around equity? And like I I feel like, you know, I I don't have a lot of firsthand experience in this space, but what I hear from others makes me think that like there's a lot of like really great intentions, but something about the
things happening in motion is just not quite a match yet. And I think the question that I have is like how do we how do we let the building help us make a better match? Um, so I don't have anything really constructive to share except that I'm listening to all of you
and taking notes so I can call you later. >> I actually think that's that's incredibly constructive. I think it the the title of the advisory team is educational planning and equity for a reason. Um, because I think part of what it would be great to hear really is sort of what that word equity means to
everybody as we go through. Um, and then I think we can start to really flesh out what does that mean for as a as a community. um and and sort of within the building itself uh and beyond the bounds of it uh because I think that the the walls of the building are are sort of porous when it comes to that particular
term. Um and then I'm going to stop because we're not supposed to be talking during this meeting. So you guys um would be doing the talking. So I'm going to shift over to the next next group here. Um Sydney, >> hi. Um, I feel like my goals like from
the student perspective is pretty similar to what has been said so far, but also like building off of that. Having like safe spaces for people interested in like all kinds of different topics. having spaces where they they are able to explore their
interests personally and they feel comfortable doing that and really feel like they're getting something important out of that while being able to connect with other students that have similar interests. Um, and having like safe
spaces available to students at like all the time. um where they are able to go and like de-stress, decompress, or just have a like the time to just do whatever they're needing in that moment so that
they are able to go back to class or go back where to whatever um after like even if it's during lunch um to be able to be fully engaged. >> That's fantastic. Thank you. >> All right. Um, Catherine, >> hi. Um, so I think like my goal for our
students and what I would love their day to look like in the future would be that it's very dynamic and there's a lot of like different things in their day and it doesn't feel um kind of like as repetitive as a lot of students feel
like it is now. And there's a variety of like different types of learning and a lot more hands-on interaction and a lot more movement and going to different spaces and collaborating and doing different things. Um, and I think from
the building visits, um, we saw a lot of cool spaces that could allow for that sort of thing that I wonder like how can we like also make sure those are like really being used. like if we create some of those things like I would say highest priority for me is like also
making sure we're like we're ready to like utilize that space and like really kind of change the way we do things to like be a more dynamic learning experience and not just like we're in this new cool space but we're kind of like doing things the same way.
>> Yeah, great sentiment. Thank you. Um, >> hi. Um, so I um I am reflecting back on um when um we talked about the collaboration spaces for for um the
students. I think uh collaboration is a really important skill and uh right now uh we don't have any formal spaces where teachers would collaborate or and let alone the students um other than the other than the classroom. So I'm I'm I'm
gonna I'm I would love to have more collaboration space for the our children and our teachers. Uh it'll probably be a space where we can showcase student work, teacher work and um where really true exploration takes place uh followed
by a good discussion the discourse uh which I think extends um um and I believe extends uh students learning. Um I would love for the mathematics department teachers to be closer to each other um in proximity and also closer in
proximity to um the CTE and uh to the science department because um I believe that there is so much opportunity for um CTE and for science collaboration with the mathematics teachers. it's like
inter uh subject and intra sububject um that that can that it can lend itself to if it's in closer to each other and um that that could be some coalition building with the with the departments and um there's one thing that I had
mentioned in my earlier um conversation and that is the concept of a math lab that runs during the day uh during a windb block um and and I would like to have space for that if if possible and um this math lab can then extend to
before school help for students and and or after school help for students as well. So so a space like that uh because we currently don't have it and and of course the the director's office um the department head's office to be closer to
the mathematics teachers because right now I'm in the in a science/UN office from many years ago. So, yeah. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Um I think Megan
was maybe one that was not here and I don't think I've seen jump in. So, I'm going to shift. Oh, sorry. S were going to mention >> I was just going to say Megan's not here. You can go to the next person. >> Okay. So, I think that's Colleen. >> Hi. Um so, I'm a special ed teacher and
I talked to a bunch of different teachers in different programs. Um, and some of the main things that came up is thinking about how we can reduce kind of the stigma of being a special education student about so being mindful of where classrooms are located as well as
classroom size. Um, we don't want kids to have to enter into like the small classroom to receive services. Um, so that being mindful of like creating sensory inclusive spaces. So things like dimmable lights, flexible furniture, sound absorption might be appropriate in
certain rooms. Um dividers like within classrooms. So if a kid needs to have a more individual workspace within the room, that would be really helpful. Um breakout spaces near co-t talk classrooms came up a lot when I talked to people. Um, when I talked to kind of
transition access and learning group, they talked about wanting to increase access to like the living lab so that students that are in 9 through 12 can access more kind of adaptive living skills instruction and having enough space for that. Um,
uh, also something that came up was making sure we have close proximity of social emotional support to our high needs programs. So, making sure we have like a calm down or sensory room and like a counselor workspace or office near our like learning group or TLP
rooms as well as like a dedicated bathroom for those programs since there's like high anxiety in some of those rooms. Um, and some students like avoid using the bathroom because they're afraid to go with like the general school population. Um, and finally, the last thing that I think came up was a
multi-use rec space that would promote multiensory learning, movement, collaboration, and helping us meet kind of the social, emotional, behavior, and attentional needs of students without having to like go in and take up part of the gym space, which is kind of the PE
teachers classroom. Um, that was like the last thing that also came up. >> Perfect. Thank you. Um, Rebecca again I don't think is on, but I just want to mention so that I don't skip over somebody that is here.
Um, and I know Nicole joined us. Um, and I see Stacy is trying to jump on and maybe get keeps getting disconnected. So, I think we'll circle back to um, Stacy Nicole as we get through um, just to let everyone know. Um, so I think
Meline is up next. >> Hi. Yeah. So, I really enjoyed my time. I participated in the building tours as well as a student shadow day. Um, and talking with my colleagues and the students. Student experience and safety
are kind of like what I'm coming in to this at the forefront of my mind. Um, I believe as many people do, students thrive and comfortable spaces that they feel proud of being in. Um, and that kind of is conducive to productive routines. So, I'd like to see spaces
that are designed with student reality at the forefront of our mind. Um, you know, I liked Jenny's analogy of the word salad that a lot of the times people bring up, but when we really come down to the basics of how are students going to exist in spaces and is this
going to promote their educational experience, um, I think a lot of those reality checks and you know that can be combined with looking at how is a high quality new modern school that supports all students in an equitable manner. How will that reality look? Um, so yeah,
modern, flexible, promoting those learning environments. Um, I'd love to see community spaces. You know, that will be allowing for breakouts for, you know, I have a co-taught classroom. That would be really nice. Small group work, and just appropriate spaces for all students, music spaces, art spaces,
athletic areas, um, that sort of thing. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> All right. Uh Dana, >> hi there. Um I also got to join in with theu the student shadowing day as well
as the building tours and speaking also with my colleagues, I have a lot of feedback. Um we everybody even without seeing the school tours really spoke to that Chapman model where they really love these common spaces in a central
area. Um, our humanities teachers really want a space where we can join together as humanities, both social studies and ELA. Um, we thought a lot of the teachers like to be outside and do whether it be like readings and plays
and performances or um just trying to get into the fells and nature and what an important idea would be to be making these shared spaces and accessible outside. Um we also talked about needing some sort of presentation space for
social studies department in humanities. We have mock trial model UN. Um we have our community service class that does a ton of different presentations within the community. We have people who bring in speakers from outside and how good it would have it would be to have a
gathering space where people could come in, they could present. We would have some sort of small stage available um projection capabilities, things like that. So we could have a more formal space. Um we also would love again with these shared spaces this idea of a
writing center where ELA and humanities could be collaborating together to be working. Once upon a time we would do um National History Day which we've had to eliminate and having these resources closer together would help elevate our students skills and um increase
collaboration between different departments. hopefully increasing the skills for our students. Um, along with what Colleen Mahaney was talking about as well, um, with our special ed teachers, a lot of our support teachers
are across the building. So, um, my co-teer cannot even get to my room until 5 minutes into the period. Um, so thinking mindfully about where our support is and where our teacher rooms are and making sure that we have some sort of accessibility to different um,
places within the building. Uh, let me see. Uh, one of the major things for the humanities department is that Medford is a historic city and so having elements of that history really showcased in our building. Um, you know, we have a beautiful entryway where we have some
beautiful murals. we have um this the ship there and kind of preserving that histo history history as well as highlighting other things that we may have missed. Um our social studies department wants to make sure that we're we're making this about Medford and
making sure that we're honoring that. And I think that might be it. Um loving the idea that like the classroom spaces could open from the walls into shared spaces um and everything else. people were saying about flexible classrooms and how
they move. Absolutely. What the social studies teachers are looking for as well. >> Thank you. Dana, we may be drafting you into the exterior and interior design advisory team meeting also just to talk about sort of how that history gets represented, but um we'll cross that
bridge when we get there. Um Chelsea, I think you're up next. >> Hi everyone. Um, so the English learner department, similar to the special ed department, like Joan mentioned, has specific programs, programming needs and
structures. Um, we have standalone ESL classes that are mixed grades and we have sheltered content classes. So, um, we in our in the visioning meetings, we've spent a lot of time thinking about, um, the collaborative
space and clustering classrooms sort of based on a team model and taking that from the CTE world where they really have like a tight-knit community um, with cohorts of students. And I absolutely love that idea, but I'd want
to make sure that the um the ESL program is embedded into those teams and not separate from them. And specifically thinking about if we are arranging those teams around grade levels, how would the ESL classes fit into that? Um, and also
recognizing that while some of the content areas, the content classes are sheltered, they are still a biology class, a US history class, um, a math class. And so really recognizing that they are content first. They just happen
to be sheltered. And so how how does that fit into those clusters of teams? Um, I'd also want to think about to the proximity of the ESL classes to the ELA classes and re recognizing and remembering that ESL classes are those
students ELA classes. Um, and I would love just if we're thinking about proximity of departments and teachers for there to be a greater bridge between the ESL world and the ELA world. Um, and also in terms of our registration
office, I think we have a really great model right now. It's um, very visible when you first walk into the building, and I think it sort of celebrates that part of our community. So, I'd love to continue to have a really visible, even more visible um, registration and e
department offices um, that is is accessible for the greater community, too. Thank you. >> Thank you. That is a great vision.
>> Um All right, Lisa. >> Hi. Um so I think that a lot of my thinking comes through the vocational school. Um since that's where I teach. Um, I think that it's really important to um really listen to the teachers and
um around vocational education because each shop is so unique and its needs are so unique um and they're different than a typical classroom. So, I think um it's been great. All the the architecture team has uh talked with all of the
vocational teachers and I think that's that's great. I think that that conversation needs to continue. um because they there are really unique needs um in just in terms of the equipment that's needed um access to the
community. Many of the um programs do have access, you know, uh interactions with the community, whether it's through the beastro 49 and having customers come in or the the salon for uh cosmetology and having clients come in or auto tech and having people come in and get their
cars fixed. So that's a very different um kind of interaction with the community than than most of the school has. Um also there's this beautiful collaboration that happens between a lot of the shops. Um they work together. Um one of the ideas I've heard come up that
I I think would be great is the idea of like having a model house that the students can work on. So the electrical students can work on the electrical aspects of the model house, the plumbing students, which will be starting soon. um you know carpentry, construction, craft labors, having like that model
house would be a really great collaborative space for the um vocational students. I think um I think uh again just you know listening to the the the really unique needs of each of the
programs. Um, I think one of the things that I've been thinking about that I don't uh fully understand how it will play out in the long run is the teacher space, teacher classrooms, whether teachers will in the uh main academic classes will continue to have individual classrooms or where whether they'll be
all shared and how that will play out and really having meaningful conversations with the teachers to understand how that would work if uh there was more shared classrooms. Um, I think the other thing that one of the things that I uh felt was incredibly useful was touring other schools over
the summer and seeing um, you know, the design decisions that were made and really learning from the other schools how um, what's worked really well for them, what hasn't worked as well, maybe what seemed like a good idea but in practice was like uh, that's not really
working. Um, you know, what kind of collaborative we talked a lot about collaborative spaces so far. what kind of collaborative spaces actually get used and how do they get used and really I I want to um you know this is such a huge opportunity for our community and I
want to learn from other communities from what they've you know what insight they've gained from their own experiences. Yeah. No, that that has been sort of the really wonderful opportunity of doing the tours and I think probably the most valuable part of the tours um from our
perspective and maybe from others as well is u the fact that administrators or teachers, educators are are walking us around and they're telling us what works and what doesn't work. I think everyone was very um truthful and forthright with us because there are some things that are successful, there are some things that were less
successful. Um and hearing those sort of that that unvarnished opinion um from the people that are actually in these buildings um tremendously tremendously useful to the conversation and we will definitely dive a bit more into that shared um classroom model as we go
forward because we know that there is a lot of interest there. Lisa, I think the other thing like worth mentioning is that there has there is a lot of conversation going on around uh change and like what has to change in
order to like be able to utilize spaces differently um and like how you sort of get to a place where you can make you cannot repeat those mistakes. And we'll probably talk about that in some of the upcoming building committee meetings. So if people want to join us like those
meetings are open to the public but yes there's the building is the building isn't going to make you change you have to make you change. So um so there is a lot of conversation around that whole concept as well that is
starting to to happen like across all of these sessions. >> All right Erin I think you are up. >> Thank you. Um, I think like many like many members here, um, and many members in the community, I think that I kind of want anything and everything, right? There's so many different ideas that we
all kind of want to put into one building because we want it to be like that universal design that we're talking about. And it's challenging to kind of start saying what is realistic with the space that we have and the timeline um, and what fits our community needs. Um, and I know a couple other members have
mentioned it, but you know, when we talk about that universal design and equity, not just as like an abstract idea, but as like everyday experiences for all the users of the facility that we're talking about, I think is my biggest priority. Um, so when I talk about like accessibility and inclusion, that's
built into not only like the design of the hallways and the classrooms, the shared spaces for faculty and staff, um, for people in the community to use, um, we're also talking about how we are supporting learners of differing needs. So the physical needs, sensory needs,
linguistic, um, negotiation needs as well. Um, that's a really big important thing for me. Um, I want this building to not have to ask students to accommodate to what the building can offer. I want the building to accommodate the students for what they need. Um, not only that, but I think
also when we talk about including the community, there's many people in the community who can remember Medford High from 20, 30, 40 years ago and what that really meant um, as a long-term Medfordite, for example, versus families that are coming in today. And there is some taboo that I think still is
associated with the high school and like is it safe? Is it rigorous academically? Is it going to provide my students and my family with what we respectively need as a family here in the city. Um and I think a way to encourage people to feel more comfortable is to create a space that again is not just for the staff and
students but also for the community to use as they need it. So they are not only encouraged to send their students and and and the young ones to our buildings, but also to find themselves there too to use the shared spaces that we're talking about. Um I think a multi-tiered kind of universal design
that I'm thinking about is going to offer kind of offer at least one thing for everybody in the community, regardless of what that may be. You can find something there at the new building or the refurbished building. Um, and I think at the last kind of portion of what I'm really excited about or what I really want to work towards is continue
to grow our competitive edge. There's a lot of conversation at the federal level and the state level about school choice. Um, research is showing that families are starting to negotiate is it financially feasible to send our kids to another, you know, nondist school for example because of the opportunity that
that supposedly offers um athletically, artsreated, academically. And I want our building to kind of be again anything and everything it needs to be for the respective family we're talking about. So that's kind of a lot. But I think that because we're talking about building something that's really never
been done before in our city, it's the opportunity right now to start thinking let's let's try everything, right? Let's shoot for the stars and then, you know, we'll have to we'll have to make those those concessions when needed, but let's not make them too early. You know what I mean? So >> yeah. No, there's there's a lot of great
aspirations in there and there's a lot of high bars, but it's it's good to have the high bars staying in Florida. I appreciate that. All right. Um, Robert, maybe >> Rob's not with us today. >> Okay. um than Amory.
>> Oh, it's some lucky timing to go after Aaron because Aaron sort of encapsulated a lot of the things that I was already thinking. Um both you and Colleen. Um so I I really want to my priority would be to focus as Joan said on students with disabilities, specifically the high
needs learners um who have specific programming needs. um robust IEPs, multiple services, um and really making sure that their academic needs are are met. Um I liked what I think Colleen said about, you know, reducing the stigma of, you know, going into a
specialized space. Um and almost thinking about it from the mindset of developing the classrooms and the learning spaces from what is the accessibility look like? Um, and when you're meeting the accessibility needs of people who might
have particular access needs, everybody's going to benefit from it, right? I mean, you think about like a curb cutout, you know, on the sidewalk. Um, that's benefiting all of us. Um, regardless of whether we technically need that curb cutout. Um, so sort of
thinking like from the from the inside out of designing the space, um, what do students with high needs need? anybody can benefit from that is sort of my perspective. And then also this this concept of inclusion versus segregation.
Um somebody said something about support teachers being across the building or having to go to a different location for for specialized services and really thinking about like you know it's not just about opportunities for inclusion, but it's really like inclusion being
fundamental and not like inclusion versus segregation. And so making sure that inclusion is like the foundation of what where you're starting um and then going from there if that makes sense. >> It makes complete sense.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Very a foundational inclusionary goal is is wonderful. >> Um all right, Norm. >> Hey, I'm Norm Russo. Um I'm one of the uh biotechnology teachers and uh a f a
CT teacher just like Lisa Miller. And uh I certainly I think Lisa Miller was very eloquent in stating um how the our new school could uh accommodate the the growing demand that
we've been seeing for uh CTE education um at at our at our in our district. And uh so I want to echo a lot of what she said. Uh certainly I I recognize a need uh for uh my program to to change its space to
make it more accessible and to keep up with the growing demand uh in the program. And also um I want to stress that uh the that the shop teachers because everyone has has has everyone who's representing their own industry um
has such unique and specific needs that the teachers be given a a say in and a hand in designing their space to meet their needs cuz I think they know best. And so I certainly I'm looking forward to that opportunity um to uh creating a new space for
biotech that's going to be accessible uh to everybody but also uh reflect best industry practices and best prepare students for uh for a career in the life sciences. >> All right. Thank you, Norm.
>> All right. through the lists that we have. Um Stacy, you're up. >> Hi, thank you. Um I think in terms of the counseling department, first and foremost, it's pretty nice to hear what everyone else has to say in terms of
like their dreams and goals. Um and I agree with a lot of them, especially around focusing, you know, solely around our highnee students and that everyone can benefit from what high need students benefit from. Um, in terms of the counseling department, I it was
interesting to go to the other schools to see how they situated their counseling department. Medford has gone through several iterations of how we place counselors, how counselors work with other staff members. I have seen that a lot of students benefited
significantly from the house model that we have created where we have two school counselors and at least one adjustment counselor and perhaps another service member as part of that house. I think that it is provided a lot of data opportunities for everyone to sit
together and talk about what do students need, how are we supporting them. I think it provides students a home base to go to and also an opportunity for counselors to collaborate with each other. I certainly think that there is becoming more and more of a need for
mental health services which occupy a lot of a school counselor's time even though they're also working on of course everyone's working on postsecary um planning for students holistically right wherever our role is that is our goal to get somebody um off and well in
the world so I think having counselors the abil to have the ability to work together um I think having a specific college and career center space is really important. Right now, we have a conference room that we have sort of
dedicated, but we can't fit more than 10 people in there at once. So, when we're bringing in speakers or, you know, schools or other folks to talk about careers, we're really having to utilize other spaces, which is pretty um limiting or outside the calf, which is
also not a great space um for us, but has a lot of traffic. And then the other consideration which I'd previously talked about is having the space for community mental health care um within the health office suite.
Um, in my conversations with other schools and providers, um, the connection to the health suite is really important both for their billing and what they need, um, but also for the ability to add a nurse practitioner who could potentially do med management um, as well, which we
have seen such a need for for our students who are unable to get care um, elsewhere. So, those are my top priorities. >> Great. Thank you. All right, Cooper. Is Cooper not with us? Nope. Um, okay
then. Kim, >> it's hard to go at the end. John, I don't envy you. You're the last of all of us. From my role, um, my goal is to deliver on our promise to the citizens of Medford, which is to ensure that kids
who leave us are able to thrive in and positively impact the world that's available to them when they leave. And so what that looks like now and what it looks like 10 years from now and 20 years from now could be really different. And so thinking about what my
goals and dreams are, I feel like we need to design, as other people have said, for flexibility. We need to design in a space that lets teachers change and adapt to what the students need as they come in to the world. Um, we know that
part of our job as teachers is to help kids develop positive identities. both academic identities and social identities in the building can't impede us from doing any of those things. So big vertical spaces that allow students
to make their thinking visible and provide lots of sight lines and let them grow in the sunlight rather than in dark spaces where many of us are now I think would be really important. Thoughtful adjacencies, eating spaces, these are things that
really matter a lot. Some of the things that I noticed in um some of our building tours that I really liked that I would love to see Medford adopt as well is I love the cafeterias in places like Waltham for example that
have lots of different seating options. There's some counter standing, there are some low tables, there's some high tables in a space that has lots of sight lines um because we don't have hundreds of people staffing lunch. We need
students to feel seen and safe and we need a space that also can provide maybe some quiet moments for kiddos for whom um a big loud space is just too much. I loved some of the library I see Dana nodding. Dana and I were partners. We hit this tour together. Um some of the
library spaces were really beautiful, especially the ones that had big glass rooms as part of the library that the doors could open between them. It seemed like it was a space for gathering for um two or three classes worth of students. It could be end teachers. It could be
made smaller. Lots of sight lines through a library with collection of of books is really important as well. And I particularly appreciated the adjacencies that we saw in Weimoth where clusters of rooms had an adjacent had a common space
that was adjacent to all of them. I do think part of being flexible for teachers is not making us sign up two weeks in advance to take our kids to a space that's bigger and more fun than our classroom. I think having and have to compete with lots of teachers for that. I can't imagine that's been the
same for the last 30 years. I can't imagine it's going to change in the next 30. So having those spaces available is really important. And the final thing I'll say is that I think one of the challenges of divi of designing a school, one that has both CTE and an academic side, is we're
designing for the students, but the adults work here too. And so in order to build that sense of community among the adults, we need places for the adults to gather in professional learning. So gathering a faculty that's as big as this high schools in an auditorium is not going to cut it for us. Our adults
in order to be the best they can for our kids, they need spaces to collaborate that lets them be as flexible as how we're asking them to be for our students. John, did I leave you anything to say? You're last, my friend.
>> Well, well, John, I don't mean to steal your thunder, but Nicole is going to go after you. She uh she slid right in there. So, I'm not sure if that's a positive thing or negative thing, but that's just the reality of where we are now. But definitely you're up, John. >> Perfect. Works for me. Um, so
let's see. Sorry. I tried to use my headphones real quick because my kids are going to be creating chaos in my house in a moment here. Um, so I I a lot of the things I was going to say have already been said, but I wanted to focus on uh two aspects. Um, I saw some missed
opportunities in some of the schools we saw in terms of just the classroom design themselves. Um, so I think most of our learning is going to happen in those classrooms and I thought there was opportunities with like expanding the whiteboards, expanding some of that stuff that would would help in in ways
just within the room. Um, but I did love the excitement of some of the opportunities with the um different configurations with desks and chairs and those types of things. Um, that I'm excited about. I think I think our school, as a science teacher, I already have a nice room um and I already have a lot of that flexibility. Um but I think
much of the school is going to really appreciate um those opportunities. Uh the other thing that jumped out at me was the community spaces. Um I felt that um I don't how do I put it? I guess in terms of the community spaces, if it's
just a matter of me taking my kid my my classroom to a novel location, to me that's not going to be a useful location for us in the building. like I wanted to have something that's either got supplies, materials, something that I can't do in my classroom or a larger
space where multiple classrooms can get together. So, I saw a bunch of spaces on the tours where I looked and I was like, "All right, this would be cool. I bring my kids here, but I don't think it would provide any better learning than in my classroom." Um, so I was really blown away with the unique things like the
Bill Ricka Blackbox Theater. Um, I think that's something that makes a school kind of unique and special and the um the cafeteria spaces being wired so they could be like I think it was Bill that had the main calf but they also had the smaller calf on the side. Um, and that
was a perfect space for like a larger collaboration, multiple classes could get in there. Um, faculty meetings, whatever it is. Um, so I liked those things. um the I think it was in Chapman. Uh we saw like the OT um kind
of smaller fizzed rooms um where they had like almost like a boxing room, they had a dance room, they had all those types of things. To me, I found those I know they're not kind of like big open spaces. I found those more valuable than some of the big open like, hey, just bring your class here um uh spaces. So,
those were exciting and I really loved and we have two lecture halls at um at Medford High School that are just in such disrepair, but they're, you know, you saw them nice and how useful things like that could be at some of these
other locations where you could bring in those guest speakers for um you know, Veterans Day and things like that and have like a nice quality setting uh for them. So, I those those were more attractive to me than the small like, hey, let me just take my individual
class to this area. Um, I was I like the bigger settings. Um, and the versatility of those settings um stood out to me on the tours. That's all. >> Great. Appreciate it. >> And now, Nicole, you get to wrap things up.
>> Okay. Um, so I'm just can I wrap things up by just saying yes, yes, yes, and yes. Because everything that everyone said really resonated with me. The flexibility uh the the knowledge and the responsibility of knowing that whatever we're creating is going to go well
beyond uh you know most of us right um and future generations. So I think keeping that flexibility in mind is critical. Um, if I want to speak, if you want me to speak directly to humanities, um, I know that Dana and Maddie outlined
some of what, um, I shared um, as well. For humanities, I really do want to see a humanities hub that allows for those interdisciplinary opportunities beyond just English and social studies. Right now, social studies and English teachers
are all over the place in the building. So, it would certainly be nice to have them together more to collaborate, but in addition to that, we do have social studies teachers that are teaching um art and ideas or the history through the arts. And so, there's a lot of different
disciplines that encompass um humanities. And I would like to see our new building allow for more of that. The other thing that's really important to our department is um understanding that you know learning
goes well beyond these four walls of our building. So we already do a lot of simulations. We do a lot of conferences with model United Nations. We zoom with third third world countries but we don't have a space to really do that effectively. So, I would hope that our
humanities hub could have some of those smaller spaces to allow um for those simulations, those conferences, um and those and just to kind of be able to continue engaging in our partnership, maybe even hosting more, um mock trial
debates, things like that. Um where we really don't have a space to do that right now. Um and I know we're just bursting at the steam to do that. The other thing that we've talked about in my department is that writing center.
Um, but the writing center, you know, we want to have it where it's offers quiet spaces for conferencing, for writing, and for getting support and that it's open to everyone since literacy really does extend across all subject areas. Um, so, you know, that's that's
something we're lacking and I I just really think that that is critical. um as it just kind of hits all the different disciplines within the classroom itself on multiple tours um a couple weeks ago. I really did love how
the classrooms opened into different shapes and sizes. I liked how um they really lent many of them lent themselves well to project- based learning which is very um much emphasized in the humanities department. I need to see a
classroom where my students can work in lit circles, but they can also be conferencing with teachers. Um, they can do a a variety of project- based learning within the classroom itself. Um, and not have to wait for a space to be available to do that. Um, so those
are those are basically the main components of what I want to see for humanities. But I I do echo my everyone on this call with with their needs. Um, I'm really excited for this. Dana's point regarding u maintaining the
historical aspects of Medford is is really important. I know that we have Amelia Heheart's propeller. It used to actually be in my office at one point. Um, we have so many historical pieces that need a better place to be showcased. It's not in my office
anymore, but um, you know, Medford is so rich in history, so I would really love to see that come alive as well. Thank you. >> Thank you, Nicole. Though I'm also now going to be drafting you into the interior design advisory team. >> Thanks. >> Volunteered.
>> I volunteered myself. That's fine. >> Okay. Uh let me just pull up the slideshow again. I think I could just There it is. Give a second to come up for everybody.
Um, so again, just this is a a duplicate of the slide that we saw previously, but just as a reminder in terms of what is upcoming in terms of our conversation, we are going to take all of the the topics um the ideas that have been brought up and we'll try to find commonalities where we can um and we're
going to dive deeper into each one of those as we move forward. Um, we've been putting these slides together just to give you a little bit of a sense of maybe what would we be talking about um, if we hadn't already heard um, any of the topics that people
brought up um, just as things that we know we need to have conversations on. And I think there's a lot of things here um, that um, we did hear today um, from members. Um, one of the the more interesting items um is that first one
on the list though um the toilets. And I know that this is not going to turn into a uh toilet room advisory team. Um no one would have signed up for that. Um but it is something that is important when we talk about equity um
specifically in terms of how those are used. And we also know that it's a pain point um in terms of um what the experience is in the building today. Um and also as we went on those school tours um it's a painoint in brand new buildings as well. And we saw some
extremely unfortunate resolutions in brand new buildings um and talking with administrators there. There were there were no magic bullets um to be able to solve that particular issue. Um there was a very almost humorous exchange um with uh the principal over at the
Chapman school middle school where we walked by an open um airport entry toilet room and somebody asked well like how do you like those open airport and he says don't do that don't do the open open toilet room entrances and then we had a little bit more of a conversation and someone said well would it work if
we put doors on it he's like no no no don't you can't put doors on them either um and so he ended up saying it's probably like no toilet rooms at all. Um that would that would solve. So there was no good solution there. We saw another airport entry toilet room where the school had installed closing scissor
gates in front of it just to lock students out of particular uh toilet rooms which is so just reverting back to what a door on the toilet room would do. Um so there was no real good success there. Um, but I did want to take a second and just preface that we will talk about it at the next meeting
because it it does warrant conversation and it needs ideas and conversation and just the fact that there's going to need to be acceptance of um change there as well. That that topic came up earlier, right? That there's going to need to be a change in terms of student behavior,
in terms of adult expectation, um, and certainly change in terms of the design sort of level of cleanliness of the toilet room. some of the things that we heard from students earlier um are all sort of that play in terms of that particular topic. Um so we know it's it's not a simple one but it is one that
we need to talk about collectively and it does have um impact also on um the perspective of equity from creating toilet facilities that are welcoming for everybody um that's going to be using the building and that that includes um
both sort of gender identity questions. It includes um physical accessibility as well to make sure that differently aabled people are completely comfortable using different toilet rooms. Um there's that strange reality right now that we do have accessible toilet rooms in the building that aren't actually
accessible. Um so we have to overcome a lot um on that particular topic and that's why we're going to spend a little bit of air time there. Uh but I do think that we heard about most of um the rest of these um again either today or sort of as we've been going through um the
different visioning meetings um the different programming meetings um and then um even shadowing day. So um there will definitely be more to come um as we go forward. We'll do a little bit more presenting um as we proceed um as we go through but um we are still
definitely looking for this to be um a conversation. um we're not just going to be showing you things and saying that this is how it's going to be. Um we need the feedback. Um we need to understand if we're moving in the right direction and again this advisory team eventually will be making recommendations uh to the
full building committee on these particular topics. So I think that is that is where we are. We actually have a little bit of time here at the end. Um, I'm happy to field any uh additional questions or thoughts or if people want to um just sort of
prelude anything, but I'm also happy to let people have another 16 minutes back into their lives. And um either either scenario is excellent from our perspective, but I will pull the screen share down again.
All right. I'm not hearing a clamoring for folks that would like to offer anything up. I know it is. >> Matt, Dana has her hand up. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't see that. Go ahead, Dana. >> Hi. So, there was a couple things that I thought of afterward that I wanted to
bring up. Um, I also wanted to add about considerations of safety, both entrance and exit points within the building, but also the parking lot. um and just how the flow is going to look in a revised space or a new space. Um leaving on time
today to get to this meeting cuz I have a long drive. Um I was in the parking lot in a gridlock for 20 minutes. So like there are definitely considerations about how this new building or again revised entry and what flow will look like and just from a safety standpoint.
Um, we also have kids um that are trying to get out five minutes early and they're rushing out because of that gridlock. So, I do think we have a lot of lost opportunities for instruction um because this is act and probably a bigger issue there that we're having a
hard time managing on um other levels. Um the other thing I wanted to think about too is about um we talked about quiet spaces and a lot of um safe spaces for kids. We need those in classrooms too. Um, a lot of teachers have their own kind of co quiet, calm corners, if
you will, and being able to maintain that for our students. And also, I I thought a lot about noise on our tours. And, you know, in Medford, it's so loud. So, you know, our stairwells and the materials that we're using and the fact that they're so small and tiny and
contained, it's like overbearing noise. And in each classroom while I was being a student, I could hear very easily all the instruction coming from both sides of the room from the surrounding classrooms. So just thinking about quality for our students and being
able to concentrate and have a space where people were able to have that appropriate sensory experience. I felt a lot of times that I was overwhelmed and I was like, "Wow, I can't think about how our kids are handling that, going through this intensity all the time.
Um, so anyway, I just wanted to say that because I forgot about those moments. >> Yeah, no, certainly appreciate that. And again, I'm going to offer more advisory team participation roles to you, Dana. Um, if you stick around for another 14 minutes, we're going to be talking about um the site aspect specifically. So, um,
there's certainly a lot more to come there. Um and those those meetings will be recorded as well. So everyone will be able to sort of log on and listen in if you don't want to sit in it live just to hear what the conversation discussions involve as. All right. Um I will just mention one
thing I I neglected to note um when we were doing that wrap-up slide that the next meeting we'll probably try to find a way to have a hybrid option there uh for those of you that would like to be in person. Um it it's always it's a tricky time of year to begin with, right? So, which is why the remote option works so well right now. It just
allows more participation. Um, but there's also a lot of value that comes from us being um in front of each other in terms of just being able to communicate a little bit better. Um, and then Rosemary and I are both in love with Kelsey as well. So, we will require that Kelsey shows up um to um a hybrid
meeting. >> You got it. Deal. And then um just for some housekeeping as well, we'll get the invites for the January meeting sent out um before the holiday break and then they'll probably be updated when the location um gets
finalized. So just be prepared for for that to hit your inbox. >> Excellent. All right. Thank you everybody. Really appreciate the participation um and late into the evening and look forward to the subsequent conversations.
Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> You can hang on Dana if you want to. If you really do want to, you're welcome to to stay for the next one. >> Sure. What What is the time for that? >> Um so it's it's going to run from 5:30
to 7 um in terms of the time frame. So, it's going to be the same link. Um, so >> can I just listen while I'm making dinner for my son here? >> That is perfectly fine. >> Okay. Thanks. >> I won't call on you, >> Dana. It's also going to be streamed on
our YouTube channel. So, if you'd rather just like have the live link up there as opposed to being on the Zoom, totally up to you, but that's an option as well. >> That would be a great idea. Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. >> All right, then I'll do that. But I'll see you. >> All right, sounds good.
>> Thank you. Thanks Matt. >> Thank you. Will I see that there's somebody John Preig Giovani in the room uh in the waiting room. Is he there for the second meeting? Is that >> Yeah. Yeah. He is. >> Um yeah. So we're still live um right now. So we'll just hang out for a little
bit and then we'll uh roll right into the next one too. >> Okay. I'll just pause and go off camera, but we'll be back in probably five minutes. Hello everybody. >> Hello. >> Somebody needs to break the awkward silence at the beginning. That is always
me now. >> Everyone. Well, so Ken, are you taking over the uh ownership of the remote meeting at this point or is Will still Oh, there's Will. Okay, >> Will's on. >> I'll still be here.
>> Thank you. >> Appreciate you keeping us on the straight and narrow. So, as we've been doing um for each of these meetings, this is now the fourth and the final one in the sort of first round of these advisory meetings. We're just going to give people probably about
four or five minutes at the beginning uh just to hop on. So, um it will be a little quiet to start off with. Anyone who wants to fill the time, you should get some elevator music or something similar.
And Matt and everyone, I'm not sure if you can hear me. It's Jen Carlson from Leftfield, but if you want to introduce me when you hit the introduction slides, I'm driving still because it's that time of day. Um, so just so you know, I can hear everybody very clearly. I just uh cannot
uh trustily unmute very quickly while I'm driving. >> Yep, we got your back, Jen. >> Thank you. Do the introductions. Stay safe out there. Can everybody see that? Is that up there on the screen for everyone now?
>> Yes. >> All right. It's probably good for this advisory team discussion if you all just spend a little bit the time staring at the outside of the school on the site. definitely appropriate here. These images were taken um as we flew a
drone around as well, just to get some current aerial, so they should be pretty uh up to date. This isn't just a Google stock image. Um, I think it was obviously before the leaves started to fall off the trees, but
it is really interesting to see it from this perspective. There there aren't a lot of images out there that where you can see this. >> No, you can hop on Google Earth and or Google Maps and sort of spin around, but it it gives you sort of a grainy view of
things. >> You can definitely >> see it from the other angles too. >> We do have some we can certainly as as we go forward and we're probably jumping into sort of the content of the meeting, but um we can definitely share some other views. um from around from
different perspective as well. That's helpful to gain a different understanding as we move forward. For sure. Um all right, since we have already jumped in um I think I'm just going to get us going. Um and I just want to welcome everybody um to this um
advisory team meeting for the Medford High School project. Um this particular advisory team meeting is going to be focused on the site um safety and security and this is going to be uh the first meeting of four meetings that we have on this particular topic. Um so
happy to have everybody here. Um I am going to run through just a quick uh outline of what we're going to cover uh to start off with. So, we're going to do um some introductions um both from the project team um and we do want to
hear um each individual team member um from Medford um introduce yourselves um and give us just a very short um explanation of what is your connection to the project or your role uh responsibility um within the city just so we have some context there. Um it
would be helpful if everyone can um have your video on um while doing those introductions so we can put a name in the face together um with the one caveat that if you are like Jen Carlson and you are driving um we completely understand and you do not need to put your camera
on for that. Uh we do want everyone to be uh safe. Um we're going then going to cover um really uh the overview of what the advisory teams are intended to do and sort of the the role of this meeting in the overall project um and how the
schedule the cadence of these meetings is going to proceed. Um and then we're going to jump um really into the the heart of this discussion um which is more of a listening meeting. Um we do want to hear from every um team member who's in
attendance um what your priority goals are for the project um through the lens of site safety and security. Um we know that the members of this team um have particular perspectives here um which is very much what we want to hear. Um this
is both about the the design team um listening um to all of your feedback um but there's tremendous value that comes here from letting each of you hear each other as well. um trying to bring together a lot of different voices and perspectives from the community um that
maybe don't always get the opportunity to hear from each other and understand sort of how how is everyone viewing the high school project um and what are the goals um that everyone is hoping to achieve uh through this project from your own particular perspective. So um
we'll start off the introductions. Um my name is Matt Rice. I'm an architect and the principal in charge for SMMA. >> Yeah. And good evening everyone. Helen Fantini, project manager with SMMA. >> Laura here.
>> And I'm dramatic entry from Laura. >> Yes. All right. >> Hi everyone. I'm SA. Should I go ahead? >> Yeah, go ahead. Sorry. >> Okay. Hi everyone. I'm Solah Jena. I'm
an architectural designer here at SMMA. >> Great. >> Yeah, Kate is out. So, go ahead, Kasha. >> Hi, everybody. I'm Kasa Rodrigo. I'm an urban planner and a landscape designer at Agency. I support the team.
>> Thank you. Yeah, Agency is our landscape architect um team member. Um and I will say that they have the best name um to refer to themselves. They call themselves agents um at agency. So I think we're jealous and we may have to switch our firm name over to agency
going forward. Um Matt, do you want to go ahead? >> Sure. Good evening everybody. Matthew Lane, good to Harvard Tech. Mark, I'm an architect and security consultant for the project. >> All right. And I saw Matt jump on also.
I'm having major Oh my god. >> Can anybody hear me? >> We can't. >> Oh, you cannot. >> No, we can't. >> Oh, you can. I'm sorry. My My computer I don't know what's going on. Hi, everybody. I'm Matt Galooi. I'm a phys
teacher at Mford High School. Uh I'm really uh glad to be here and I'm thankful that I get to be a part of this. >> My my apologies, Matt. I think it's very close in terms of the names. Um the Matt Galino um is the project manager with
Leftfield, our owner project manager. Um so maybe I saw you jump on instead of him and I actually mixed up the name so my apologies there. Um and then Jen Carlson is also with Leftfield the OPM. She is the one that is in the car. Um and I'm just going to do that
introduction for her so that she can focus on the road. All right. And Matt, I'm going to um I I'll give you another quick opportunity um with a little bit more preface as we jump in as we go through. Um so I'm just
gonna run through um and >> if you're here um when I call if you could just do the introductions that would be appreciated. Um so we're gonna start off with Nicole. >> Hi, I'm Nicole Branley. I'm a current member of the Memphis School Committee.
I'm also an outgoing member. Um, but I'm also a mom of a 10th grader at Meford High School, Vocational Technical High School. Um, and then I had a daughter that graduated this June. And I have been um an advocate for the last three years um to make sure that our students
are doing the right thing, that we're safe, that we're following policies and procedures. So, I'm happy to be here. >> And can I just say really quick, Chief Buckley, it's really nice to see you. Chief Buckley's back. Yay.
>> Thank you. What an introduction. >> There you go. You're next. >> You're up, Chief Buckley. >> Welcome everyone and happy to be here. Uh Jack Buckley. I am Chief of Police. It's good to have that title because it explains my role and what my goals are to kind of support this whole uh
operation as we go forward. So looking forward to it. Welcome everybody. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> And hi Addison Adelaine. I want to make sure you pass that along. I said that. I I I will pass that along. Maybe at the end of the meeting I can have her jump in for a second. >> Excellent.
>> All right. Uh Teresa. >> Hi everyone. My name is Teresa Carr. I'm a Medford resident. I live right up the road. All right. On Winthrop Street. I'm a mom to two future high school kids. I have a daughter in the fifth grade at the Brooks and a first grader over at
the Misatuk. Um my area of expertise and the reason I'm on this committee is um I'm a transportation planner, mobility planner. I've been doing this for about 25 years around the country and um I focus in um public transportation but
also in active transportation. >> You are definitely in the right place, Teresa. Thank you. Uh Amanda. >> Hi everyone. Amanda Santella. Uh so I work for the city of Medford in our office of planning, development and sustainability. Um I am an open space
planner. So very excited to be a part of the conversation and to be thinking about um sort of how uh you know green space, recreational facilities, etc. are incorporated um in the site and um and
sort of circulation in and through and around um the site as well. Um so thanks so much for having me. Thank you. Um Matthew or Matt Deo? >> Um Matt wasn't able to make it tonight and I believe um Joe Hogan who is our
other student um is not on the call right now but he may be joining shortly. >> Okay. Um we'll keep going. That's great. Um so Todd >> Hey. Uh Todd Evans, Medford Fire Chief. So, I'm just here to see where the big
red trucks are going to be going, what what they're going to be doing. >> Thank you. So, Chief Evans, is that better? Is that No, >> that's fine. Sure. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, and Matt, sorry, I'll let you do a duel over in terms of
the introduction because I put you on the spot there. >> I appreciate that and sorry for all the confusion, everybody. Uh, Matt Kooi, physical education, Medford High School. Um, I've been there since 2004. Super excited about this whole project and hopefully I can uh
give you some insight on the building. I'm there every day and um there's just a lot I would love to see us get accomplished. So, I'm super thankful to be here. So, thank you. >> That's great. Thank you. Uh Jenny, >> everyone, I'm Jenny Graham. I'm the um
vice chair of the school committee and the chair of the member um comprehensive high school building committee. So um I have the like lucky job um that I get to sit on all of these advisory teams. And
one of the reasons that I'm um here and interested in that role um is so that I can take copious notes about who to call when we have different problems to solve as this building design unfolds. So I'm super happy to be here and I'm always so
amazed at um like how talented the residents of Medford are. in fact when we put out an ask and get like just scads of interested people who are super qualified to to support various efforts. So um welcome everyone.
>> Thank you Brian. >> Howdy everybody. My name is Brian Hillyard. I'm a parent of a junior at the high school currently and I'm also a member of the building committee. So have been sitting in a lot of these
meetings so far and happy to be here. I'm also an architect and I love urban planning and you know all the design that goes with it. So I'm happy to see how this unfolds and uh looking forward to the future. Thanks.
>> Thank you. Um Joe or was Joe our other student that was potentially joining and may have not. >> Yeah, Joe's our other student. >> Okay, thank you. >> Um Alicia or Alicia? >> Hi, thank you. It's Alicia. Okay. >> I am the director of planning,
development, and sustainability for the city. Um I am actually the parent of a current Medford High junior. Um Brian, I think our our boys are good friends. Um, but I'm not sure that we've actually met. And um, I have twins who have
graduated from Medford High. Uh, but I've also through my work with the city done a lot of work on building energy. But I've sent a different staff person to that project. Um, one of the things that I was really passionate about and then I actually I'm going to call out Matt Galooi. He was one of the instigators on getting students outside
of the buildings during the school days. And that is a project that he and I worked together on uh many years ago with a bunch of teachers to sort of make it natural and part of the curriculum that classes could just go outside into the felts as part of the regular school
day. And I have a lot of interest in both school security and the ability of students to not feel like they're in a jail, to feel like they have movement and freedom and the ability to do things and go places and have good healthy
places to be going to school. Um I've also done a lot of work with the buildings on waste and our next thing coming up maybe hopefully January is composting. Um, so I have a lot of interest in all these different kinds of areas. Plus, I am the sustainability
director for the city. So, and transportation, bikes. These kids got to start biking to school. Thank you. I'll get off my soap box now. >> That's all right. This whole meeting is is a perfect opportunity for soap boxing. That's what that's what we're
here for. Um, all right, Nick. Good evening everyone. Uh I hope y'all y'all can hear me well. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh my name is Nicholas Kinga or Nick as the way it goes by by
me. Uh I am the disability specialist for the city of Medford. I I work in in the office of DEI um for the city. Uh but I am also a
lifelong Medford resident. Um and also um one of the one of the members of of of the first class to to to go through the Miglin um
from from like from start to to to finish. So, um I I have lived in in Medford for practically my whole life. Um and uh I am grateful to to to be
here. Uh not not only am I the the disability specialist, I I I also am a young man with um with with
cerebral pal. So I do use a walker and other mobility the devices. And so this is ve very crucial for someone uh who who would be in in my shoes. And and and so I am
hoping to make the the the future high school not only an enjoyable place but an accessible place for all people. Thank Thank you. >> That is great. We really appreciate your
perspective, Nick. Thank you. Um Ethan, >> good evening, folks. Uh Ethan Lace Sleeper. Uh I'm a Medford resident and I've got a uh class of 2037 and a class of 2040
uh kids. Um and uh my professionally um I worked in architecture and planning. Uh I was also on the steering committee for the comprehensive plan. Um so have a
curiosity for all things planning and then also you know some personal interest in the future of the high school. Uh also u live pretty close to the fells and spend a bunch of time in there. And I I see uh you know this this committee obviously we want to ensure
that the new master plan site plan is you know safe and accessible for all modes transportation. Um and also to really take advantage of this amazing site that we have. Uh, and really liked hearing, you know, what
Alicia was saying and, um, saw Matt nodding his head, too. But, you know, the the fells and the resource there just to get outside and take a breath of fresh air, maybe even look at opportunities to expand educational
opportunities related to, you know, outdoor recreation and beyond would be great great thing to kind of talk about here with all of you. Um Ken, >> good evening everyone. I'm Ken Lord. I'm the chief operations officer for the
Bedford Public Schools. I am in charge of facilities, technology, and security. And um I'm really excited to participate in this project to try to make all those things work for us. >> Thank you. Um Sean. >> Hi. Good afternoon everybody. My name is
Sean Mangan. Um sorry I'm in the car as well. I apologize for that. I'm the director of operations and communications at Armstrong Ambulance. I've been with Armstrong for about 30 years. Uh I'm also a lifelong resident of the city, graduate of Medford High School along with my son a couple years
ago who graduated. Um been in and around Medford High School for a long time. Responded to hundreds of calls in there for EMS related incidents. Um I'm just here glad to be part of this and to help out however I can. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sean. Great to have you here.
Um, Tim. >> Hi everybody. Tim McGiver. I'm the commissioner of public works for the city of Medford. Uh, so I'm in charge of the public ways, parks, the water system, sewer system with engineering support fleet, uh, the fleet of the
city, forestry, oak cemetery, and we assist with the operation and maintenance of the school sites as well, uh, especially during winter. I also have two kids in the school system. uh and um I was once a practicing civil engineer, licensed civil engineer and uh
my focus was insight development. Uh so and you know I worked on some MSBA school projects as well back in those days. So looking forward to helping out wherever I can. >> The great collection of folks that we have there. This is wonderful. Um, John,
sorry, John Mclofflin since we have two Johns. Thought I saw John lo on earlier. >> He definitely was on earlier, but I'll let you know back on. >> All right. Um, and John, I'm not going to try and pronounce your last name because I'm
going to get it wrong. So, >> thank you. Thank you. >> Good evening, everyone. Uh, job fresh Javanni. Um, I'm a college uh athletic uh coach up here, a sports coach at Meford High School currently. Um, longtime method
resident, graduate of Meford High School. Um my three kids uh have graduated from North High School recently in the past uh within the last 10 years. Um excited to be part of this group. Um hear what's going on and hope to give some insight um with an athletic
uh perspective. I also work uh part-time offseason in season with uh our turf fields and any type of athletic events kind of like the sort of like coming in the back of the school type activity. So, um, things like safety and, um, some
of that and planning, you know, I probably give some insight on that, um, to help this group out go forth. >> Thank you. It does look like you're on site as well, too. I'm guessing there's something going on there this evening. >> Yes, we have opening night for boys basketball, so we're uh, very busy here
today. So, >> thank you. >> Thank you, everybody. >> Um, and then lastly, Melissa. >> Hi, I'm Melissa Young. I've lived in Medford since 2017. Um, a municipal employee, just not for the city of Medford. I work for the city of Cambridge. I'm an enterprise application specialist, a project manager, business
analyst by trade. So, I was really wanting to be a part of the high school uh project and I have a daughter who is going into kindergarten next year. Um, I live in data and decisions making made in data, you know, made with data,
operational efficiency, risk management, all that kind of stuff. Um, and my my skill set is cross department collaboration across the city. So, like I know a little bit what goes on in every little department. I write all the applications for the city of Cambridge. If it if it comes from the public in, I've written it. So, I'm familiar with
all the different departments roles. So while not the same skill set as everybody else here, I I do feel like I can bring quite a bit to the table. >> Yeah. No, it is it is great. I mean this you guys are um a wonderfully diverse group and sort of really pertinent and
it's good to not have overlapping skill sets but really to have sort of complimentary skill sets. And I think that's that's exactly what I'm hearing as we go through this. I just want to make sure that I didn't miss anyone that hopped on um that is maybe on now. All right.
does not sound like that is the case. Um, so let me just advance quickly here and then we'll get to an opportunity for everyone to dive a little bit deeper. Um, so just to explain what these advisory team meetings are. There's a lot of meetings going on for the high school project at the moment. Um but
this particular set of meetings um not just this advisory team but the other three that you see um up on screen right now um are really a mechanism that we've used successfully in the past uh to collect um diverse stakeholder input um
from a wide variety of voices across the entire community of Medford. Um and so it it's a it's a classic challenge with these projects. These are incredibly complex um buildings, sites, um efforts, design projects um in terms of pulling
together um a whole bunch of different needs um all valid um and all sort of needing to orbit around sort of a high school project, right? The core of this project is a high school, but we know that this this school building um has so many other wonderful programs inside of
it and serve the community in so many different ways. is it's been referred to as the flagship multiple times and that really is um what it is. And so the the four advisory team groupings that you see here um sustainability, MVP systems,
this one um exterior in design, educational plane, equity, they are not um individual siloed activities of conversation. Um we represent these as a vin diagram on screen very intentionally. Um there is a tremendous amount of overlap between all four of
these. Um but at the same time we found that we need to give enough space to each one of these topics um to be able to talk through the concerns that are surrounding them. Um and then eventually what we're going to be doing is sort of bringing all those back um into the purview of the full building committee
um for sort of acceptance and if there's any um synergies or if there's any um challenges that are like found to be between uh competing interests maybe between different um advisory teams those are the things that we're going to try to get into and we want to really illuminate up front because we want to
make sure uh again that we're hearing from all these voices as we go forward. Um the particular objective of this um advisory team meeting is um very um much aligned with what it implies in the
title. Um it is this overlap this um sort of collision of site safety and security um which may seem um in some um some dialogues to maybe not be um sort of related topics. Um I I'm actually
getting the feeling based on sort of our um participants here that you all are wellversed in how um really interrelated these things are. Um and it's it's not um a scenario where we're just taking a safety and security lens and saying okay like how do we make the building safe
and secure? That that's not the goal here. we really need to take um a perspective of once you enter the site off Winthre Street or even when you're on Winthre Street approaching from different areas um what is that holistic view um of safety and security how are
those two things different but related um in terms of considerations and then how do we um really account for all the different needs that the site has be it athletic field be it access into the fields be it pickup and drop off um for
a whole variety a host of programs community access after hours to things like the pool. Um it's it's a it's a fascinating and it's a complex set of issues and so that's really why we have this advisory team to be able to dig into that and start to understand sort
of where are the priorities um and where are things that we need to focus on. Um a quick contextual slide here in terms of schedule. Um we are looking to open the new school um or or substantially renovated added on to
school in the fall of 2030. Um that's all the way on the right hand side of our slide here. We are on the left hand side in the feasibility study still more or less at the beginning of this effort. Um the stars that you see here 1 through four are the different times that we're going to come together with each
advisory team um to have discussions about the project on this particular topic. Um so to look at those four meetings um and sort of the intent and cadence behind them. Um this first meeting is very much intended to be a listening meeting. Again we are
listening to you um but we also um want to give you the opportunity to listen to each other. Um the second meeting is when we will actually come with some material um and we will um based on what we're hearing um as sort of the topics um that need to be covered um we'll put
forward some graphic material and we'll present um some concepts um that we'll look for feedback on um in that second meeting which has been scheduled for uh January 13th. The third meeting and the fourth meeting are really meant to refine these um topics. We want to make
sure that we're hearing everyone correctly um and that we can uh formulate recommendations that will be shared back to the full building committee. Um so that's really sort of the the through um meetings three and four sort of the content moving forward
and we're going to set those dates um as we progress into the new year here. All right. Um, so I'm going to pull down the screen share here and I just need to do the quick math of
how much time we have available and we have looks like 18 people. So we're going to shoot for about three minutes um in terms of time from everyone. Um, I imagine that some folks may have more than three minutes in terms of what you want to share because
it's just an arbitrary time limit that we're putting out there into the world. Um, if there are things that you want to share with us, if you want to point us to um, particular requirements um, that your department or your commission have um, or if you just have a longer statement that you want to share, um, we
can definitely take those in after the fact and we'll add those to the meeting record moving forward. um just so we have sort of enough time for everyone to speak uh because that is important. Um and if people want to spend less than three minutes, that's absolutely fine as well. Um I will try to keep track of
things and I apologize in advance that I may interrupt you. I actually didn't have to do that at all um during the last meeting which was nice uh because I am not the interrupting type. Um but I will uh jump in there if I need to. So,
um, to lead things off, we're going to go back into the, um, alphabetical list, and we're going to be able to start off with Nicole. I'm just going to listen for now. I actually have to hop off in a minute. It's my daughter's birthday. I'm sorry, but I'm listening. Um, I'll have I'm
usually not the one that uh is quiet, so I'll bring a lot to the table as the time goes on. Um, I think it's really important that we talk to our security monitors who are in the building every single day. Um, and I'll make sure that I reach out to them. Um, I really wish there was someone from the vocational team on this meeting. I don't know if
Jenny knows if someone from that side of the high school will be joining us at all. Um, but I think it's important to definitely talk to them. They direct traffic. You know, the security monitors are out there directing traffic at times. Um, and so I think it's really
important to have them, you know, their input with us, you know. Um, but yeah. >> And Nicole, just so you know, um, there were no vocational who volunteered for this committee, but if you hear of
somebody who feels left out, please let me know. >> I will make sure they're represented >> and then um, but they are well represented across like every other >> No, I do know that. Yeah. So, um, not to worry about that. And then Ken and John are both here and the monitors report up
to them. So, they also will like channel to make sure that those folks are included in the conversation. That's great to hear. I think sometimes obviously perspectives um can look different depending on who you know you're talking to. So, I just want
to make sure that I reach out to as many people as possible to make sure that if there's anything that someone may not feel comfortable saying to everybody that at least their their words are being, you know, said from me. So, that's awesome. That's great. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Nicole. Um, so Chief Buckley,
you're up next. >> Thanks, Nicole. Going to have taken a few minutes to let me get ready, but uh, so >> you want me to reintroduce you, Jack? >> No. Uh, so I'm going to start by one of the things I'm I follow this. I know we have a new school. I'm interested in what
we're very early on. My understanding is there are no plans and no drawings and no site ideas. So when you put up the dates and the expectations, I I suggest that that's going to be a fluid process, right? because there's a lot of issues related to security and site that we're
not even going to be able to address until we get pen on paper and start looking at what we're looking at and designing. Uh that's number one. The second part is at least from my perspective and I know we're talking in generalities now but there are certain security aspects that we will not
discuss in a public forum. I mean I know that might send some people uh off but they're security reasons. their security for a reason and we want to do that. So, we could deal with that as we move on down the line. Aside from that, uh you
know, this is a historic site for the city of Medford. It's a difficult site and we just the site in and of itself is going to have some uh things that we have to overcome uh for you know the in the main sense I think the access and egress right can't do one road anymore.
that's going to be a problem for everyone who said they were an architect and an urban designer like get your thinking caps on because that is going to be an issue that we're going to have to start thinking about. Uh outside of that you know security measures we'll deal with as we go along. Uh I would really like uh and I know the architects
are involved in this but like simple things about making sure everyone understands what we're designing like this is an A side of the building and a B side of the building the C side common terminology numbered stairwells numbered doorways uh numbered locations for security cameras all all these are some
basic stuff so I'm just saying them out loud to to to give you an idea of what some of the things that I'm looking for. uh communications capabilities on site. We've spent years with an old high school and my police officers go into that school and can step into one
location and not have any access to our radio communications. We've worked with installing BDAS and to overcome those things, but you know, modern buildings are often tight buildings, right? And they often come with their own communications problem. We need to think about that ahead of time, right? That's just not going to
affect uh the police, but the fire and EMS. It's also going to affect internal communications between teachers and staff if they use things other than you know the PA systems. But those are things we have to keep in mind and how we kind of uh as we go forward and you
know other than that I think it most of my issues or concerns might come up during the design phase right like I believe in open concepts right but there's there's like secure lobbies open concepts sight lines people know where to go and we need an easy building that
high school I I heard everyone a lot of people here say that they went to this high school that is not an easy high school to get around it's not we have to design a a little bit more simply, right? A little bit more understanding of where we where we are and that building on where we're going. But I I have confidence in the teams that doing this, but I'm just telling you what my
mindset is going into uh this whole process. And thanks for the opportunity to kind of spot off a little bit on it. Appreciate it. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Jack to and Jack to your point like when there are those sort of confidential sensitive conversations like we will
carve off and engage with you and Todd about those things um the way that they need to be handled because you're right like we it's not secure if you tell everybody your secure plans. So, >> yep. And I knew that would come up, but I just it's matter of like who who's
going to have those conversations at what? So, >> yeah. >> But much appreciated. >> And just to give a little insight there, too. So, we will certainly be coming and speaking in person um with police and with fire um to be able to run through those things in detail. And that's
typically how we will handle that. Um, so good to to sort of keep things um at a little bit of a higher level, but um that was like an excellent start just in terms of what we're interested in hearing today in terms of what those priority goals are. So I really appreciate that. Um so I think Teresa,
you are up next. >> Thank you. So, um, you asked for my goals and here, um, I represent not just my own family and with my expertise in urban planning, transportation planning, but I serve as a representative of
Medford Safe Routes to School Task Force. Um, I'm co-chair of Medford Mothers Outfront uh, transportation task force and I'm a member of Walk Medford. Um, I would be really interested in
seeing us open up the new high school to the street and to the community. It's tucked too far back where it is currently. The vast array of free parking encourages driving and traffic congestion along Winthrop Street. And it
honestly, the way it's situated, it discourages walking and cycling. Um, the location of the high school campus is not central to all of Medford's neighborhoods. There is
transit access and there is bike access to excellent transit if the site design did a better job of encouraging that bike access to transit. I'd love to help this team figure out ways to encourage
less driving for students, for teachers, and for staff. I'd love to see you open up the high school campus to the street. I don't like that there's a sidewalk on one side. I've ridden my bike up to
Medford Family Network many times, especially when my kids were younger. I also, my daughter does the band camp in summertimes and the two of us will ride our bikes together. She uses the snare drum. It's not easy on a bike and it's
also not easy because that hill, it's a slight hill, but it's a hill and what it does is it discourages cycling. Not everyone is going to have an ebike. I agree with what someone else had to say
about the permeability of the high school to the fells. That's a secondary focus for my interests, but I do like it. And finally, the vocational school aspect of the high school is such a huge strength to Medford and to the region.
So the idea of involving the vocational students somehow in the design and the construction of the school in my mind it would be part of that concept of opening up the school to the community. >> Great. Thank you
>> Amanda. >> Awesome. Excuse me. Um, I loved so much of what Teresa was just saying. Um, I think so, you know, this is a a high school first, but I also think of it as this incredible, you
know, community resource. And so, um, the way that it's situated now does feel sort of insulated from the surrounding neighborhood. um if there are ways to I think it you know there's a balancing act of um creating a space that's that
has access is accessible and welcoming while also like maintaining sort of site safety and security for students and staff. Um very interested in kind of getting into conversations around that. Um
I think that other things that are of interest to me would be um you know what are ways that um the athletic fields and other kind of green space um or like public space within the school and around the school can address or at
least um forall any sort of things related to climate. Um so if you know are we having any challenges with muddy fields or um or just heat um things that are yeah responsive to um you know our
felt experience in and around the area. Um well let's see I think yeah encourage like what are ways that we can design to encourage different modes of getting to and from the school getting around the school. So um much like what Teresa was
talking about um you know encouraging biking um encouraging you know use of transit um and I see the fells as this incredible resource resource that is you know right there um so uh yeah like how
do we um and again I think it's it's also a little bit of that balancing act of um you know safety and security because there's this open public resource that is next door or like on the footsteps of um doorsteps of the
school. Um and like we want, you know, I think to encourage folks in and and and to come in and around the area. Um particularly students. Um I think so. Um that's
another piece of it. Um let's see. Sorry, I'm just looking at my notes here. Yeah. And I think um I'll just add too like I know that there's a bunch of programming um that happens outside of
school programming. Um I I'm aware of I think there's um I want to say there's like English language classes that happen at the high school. Um may correct me if I'm if I'm wrong. >> Japanese school. Yeah. >> Thank you. Yes. >> On the week on Saturdays.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, um yeah, just sort of again highlighting, you know, this is a high school first, but it's also like a a huge community resource. Um you know, access to the pool, things like that. Um so, what are ways that we can kind of better and mesh it within our community?
Thanks. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um I don't think that Matt is on yet, Matt Mayo. Um so, I think we can pivot over to Chica. Hi. Um, yeah. So, some of my concerns um
kind of overlay with Chief Buckley's concerns also as far as like radio communications uh BDAS installed and things like that, but definitely uh a concern is the the access routes there. I mean, as far as coming in two
different independent directions, I mean, u right now that there there are currently pinch points at that school on the sides of the school where it it basically dead ends and it and it does block in um fire apparatus or ambulances
and and it can kind of get get people stuck in there. I mean, we we recently had a issue with the a fire in the woods nearby there and uh everybody was kind of congested in one area there kind of in a dead end area and uh you know students are trying to leave and get out
of there and they're blocked in and and and it get it gets ugly without two two ways in and out. So that's uh definitely a concern. obviously um fire lanes um things like that. Um
we're going to be we'll obviously discuss hydrant locations and things like that. Um landscaping, you have the landscaping team there. We can address things with them as far as access goes. Um, obviously we'll be discussing, you know, sprinkler systems
and and com uh fire doors and all that down the road and everything else and compartmentation, but probably especially we'd like to look at uh find out what your what your plans are on like high-risk spaces there such as like
labs and uh shops, uh vehicle automotive probably, um gymnasiums and kitchen areas and things like that. So, um those are going to be some of the things that we want to look at with you and u
obviously we'll be talking about the construction phase going on there and and what kind of access we we will have to think about during construction phase there and uh like Noxbox and and Knoxbox locations and and gates if you're putting gates and and security such as
that so that we'll be able to access any areas if if something happens during that phase. Um and then um we'll probably be also talking about later on down the line about like what your plans are with rooftop units and
and solar panels and things like that and and uh kind of roof access and u roof uh safety around around the perimeter of the roof also in regards to fire department uh operations.
And um and again there's probably some other sensitive security things like Chief Buckley mentioned that we'll have to discuss in another in another way. Uh but but that's basically uh the beginning of it. I'm sure we're
going to have a lot of other things to discuss later on as we get further down the road and see some see some progress here. >> Yeah. and and photovoltaic panel. That's definitely one of the topics that's going to cross into multi multiple advisory teams in terms of discussions. I appreciate you bringing it up. Um,
okay. Uh, Matt Fusy, I think you're up next. >> Uh, so obviously, you know, I want to see a modern state-of-the-art building that, you know, it's flexible learning environment that can support all our growing needs. Um right now that
building is massive and there's a lot of areas where we don't have visibility on kids can kind of hide out. Um I graduated in '92 with maybe 2400 kids in the whole school and it was too big then and you know here we are now with maybe
1300 kids. It is just a massive space. So there's a lot of blind areas in that building especially down my end of the building the gymnasium area. Um, I would love to see that get cleaned up. From a a traffic standpoint, I would love to see a flow, you know, like Chief Buckley
and Chief Evans both said, some kind of flow around the building. Um, it is, if you go behind the gym, up by the pool area, up by the fields, you know, that's it. It stops it. If we could ever get some kind of traffic pattern that goes completely around the building, one way
in, one way out, and then we definitely need some kind of emergency egress, which we're going to have to get super creative with that because we have all residential areas around us. I don't know how that's going to happen. Um, obviously access to the fells is huge,
you know, from in in my world. Um, 2011 2012, I got a mass DCR grant. We put in a trail. We have an almost onem trail that we use a lot with fizzed classes. So, I want to make sure that we're still using the fells. Um,
as far as field space and whatnot, one thing I've seen with with other schools that have been built, you have to account for enough parking spaces. You can build these beautiful state-of-the-art schools with these beautiful fields and you're renting out the fields or you're doing other stuff
in the fields and there's just not enough spots to park. So, we're going to have to figure that out. Uh what else we got? I love that the community um utilizes the building. You know, it is the flagship. We do so much up there, but I would like to see that community
utilized spaces um ideally grouped together so we can assure security. Um I'm not saying separation, but seal them off from from other parts of the building. uh where I am in the gym, I see all the people that go and swim every day and I think it's fantastic.
But we have had people that are new coming to swim and they and they're banging on the back door of the gym and I open the door and like, can I help you? And they don't know where to go and god forbid, you know, somebody ever got in the building. So we, you know, I'd like to see that.
Uh like I said, the the gym is just it's so large with so many blind areas. I'd like to see, you know, high visibility spaces and also high visibility spaces where kids can gather, faculty can gather and we can collaborate and, you
know, nobody's uh being hidden. Um, oh, one big thing too, my last point, I'll I'll give everyone their time. I would love to see the bus drop off area be designated just for bus drop off. Um,
we've been super fortunate that we haven't had too many accidents, but I see the way some parents drive when their kids are late to school and as currently constituted that bus loop. Parents can fly down there. You could have someone crossing the street. So, I I just definitely feel that's a danger
point that we need to look at in cleanup. And I'm sure I'll have a lot more, but I want to give everyone their time. So, thanks. >> Very much on time. I appreciate that. Thank you. Uh, Jenny, you're up next.
>> When I was a kid, for about 5 minutes, I wanted to be an architect and then I realized I couldn't draw a straight line and I hated physics and so I had to like move on from that. Um, and um, you know, I don't envy like
the set of challenges that we're like stacking up for the architects because I think there's a lot of them. But um I I have also had more time than like most of you to sit with like all of the possibilities and I've been able to see like early concept designs from all the
people who were vying for this job. None of them I liked in its entirety, but just like my wheels about the site in particular have been turning for a really long time now. It feels like um so in the last couple of weeks like we've been focused on what's the
education going to look like in the building which has been very interesting but since you're all here and and we have this like audience like things on my mind about the site are thing are things that include like certainly like a you know a place for all of the modes
of transportation to to have a a some designated space like we heard from students last week that like it's a mad dash to the bus because it's on the opposite end of the building from where they they end their day. So, if the bus is this time-sensitive thing, um
shouldn't it be central um to the school for all students to be able to get there? And shouldn't it be a different space than like where pickup is versus where parking is? So, I think there's all this opportunity to like create
better flow around the around um the space. And I the other thing sort of I'm envisioning is that as we do a better job of um using the space, we're going to have some real estate to do more on
the property. Like, can we put a track and field on the property and a football stadium on the property? Can we create more playing fields? Can we like you know we have like everyone talks about the field of dreams. The field like the
half the rubber from the field of dreams is in my house. So I'm here to say like it's time for us to like dream again about what the field of dreams looks like. Um but you know I think there's just so much opportunity to to do the
things on the site that um the community would really value. And I think one of the like keys to this whole project for me is that the high school is not a place you go for four years. It is a community space that everyone sees as a
resource. So that's like the pool. I have people in my ear saying, "Don't get rid of the pool. It's one of the best pools I've seen in the area." and it's the theater and it's like the playing fields and it's like all the things that bring people um to this space that may
have nothing to do with what goes on in the building. So, I just I'm super excited about the opportunity that's created. like we got all this like weird these weird patches of grass all over the place that like you know the football team uses this practice field
and they're like it's kind of a it's kind of junk but we can't get across the city to use the real field and like there's all this there is all this space it's just not like maximized in any way and then my my parting thing Chief Evans close your ears but like in my in my
mind like I see that we have this amazing skyline view of the city of Austin and wouldn't like some roof access to like enjoy that space be so amazing. Um, and then the other thing I super am looking forward to is for
somebody before us to solve the question of turf fields and are they poisonous or are they not? Um, and I every time I see an article I'm like maybe these guys have solved it so we don't have to fight about it here in Medford. I haven't seen that just yet, but I'm really hopeful
somebody's gonna figure it out before we have to. Um, and then I think like just overall like the all the opport like to me this is such an opportunity for Medford to like create space like we we don't h we can't create like we're so
landlocked here that this is an opportunity to say like how can we create space here that doesn't exist in the city today. so that everybody who like ultimately has to go and say we're going to pay more taxes to do this has a reason to say yes. Um and to me that's
about creating something for everybody in this building in addition to like doing right by the students who are going to like spend you know 180 days a year there. >> Thank you Brian you are up next. >> All right. Can you hear me now? >> We can. Yep.
>> Excellent. So, I think I just have two points to touch on. You know, again, obviously this is a incredibly difficult site. There's tons of uh flow and pattern issues that we're all well aware of. Um, I honestly I'm I'm probably
really fortunate as a parent because, you know, like I said, our son is a junior and uh I can honestly say I've never driven to the school during any of the um rush hour time. So, he either walks, bikes, or takes public transit.
And so, my first point is the public transit. And I'm not quite sure how it works. He literally gets on the city bus that that goes in. And one of the things that actually Jenny and I heard in uh some of the earlier meetings with the kids is that it's really difficult for
them to not only get to the bus stop and and get out and get um get on their way. It's it's immediately after the bell rings and there's only one wave of buses and if you have if you want to meet with a teacher, if you have take a test after school, if you uh do after school
activities, you're on your own. So, it'd be interesting to work with the city and see if we can get another round of buses somehow. So, public transit um because public transit's huge uh in my eyes and um I'm a big proponent. So, so that's one. Um looking forward to the
solutions. I know in my eyes again because I've you know I've got some history thinking about this kind of stuff. I'm really curious where the phasing goes because, you know, it is a tight site and I would love like somebody mentioned to have some street presence. You know, I'd love to take
advantage obviously the in and out of, you know, inner space and connection to the fells like Jenny mentioned up on the high point. There's great views. How do we take advantage? This to to me is all hinged upon how the phasing goes. How
much of the old building do we keep? How much do we tear down? and that's going to inform the traffic patterns, the site planning and all these things. So, uh I'm excited for you guys as the professionals to pen to paper and and see how that um phasing actually informs
the site planning and what we're end up what we end up with. Um you know, again, I think it's it's going to be important. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tight to get everything we want without a clean slate because we don't have one. We have got a lot of
stuff in there. Um, so, uh, I guess I'll close out by saying good luck. No, I'm I'm very much looking forward to it and seeing what you guys do and and working with you guys. So, happy to be here. Thanks. >> And eventually we'll have uh most likely
a construction manager that's going to come on and going to collaborate with the project team, everyone here as well um on some of those critical phasing issues. But you're right, we do have to find a path forward um before those folks are uh really engaged in the conversation.
So Joe I think is not here, right? That was one of our students. Um so I think Alicia, you are up right. Okay. I was making some notes on what some of the other people were saying. I feel like the people who speak first are going to be like I would have
commented on those things. um because I because I I don't have a prompt to respond to, but um I was looking at the site. The site is unfortunately extremely constrained because of its surrounding by the fowls, but I sent a note to Jenny and to Tim McGiver that
maybe we could look at some stuff with the state that are limiting this site. Um, and like it had never occurred to me until sitting in this meeting just now that this building could be tighter and taller and as long as the programming
works so that students don't literally have to run up five flights of stairs in the three minutes between classes, it could in fact be a different configuration and taller. But I know there's a lot of hope to not leave lose the pool, but the pool needs help
because we can't rent it out for profession for real good events because you don't there's no ADA access to the viewing area. Um my daughter did synchronized swimming there and it is actually an amazing pool for synchronized swimming and one of the few in this region but we could never hold a
meet there because there was no good viewing for it. Um whereas we that would have been a great great uh addition. I mean, just the the opportunities that were lost because of the viewing area not being accessible. Um,
when my daughter was starting in the high school, she was terrified of getting lost. And she had been using just the pool for several years to the point where she made a scale model. She asked me for floor plans, which I gave her, and she made a scale model of the first floor of the high school because
she was so scared. Um, and so I just I need to share that is like we need to think about kids. I've heard that that is the number one fear of kids going into nth grade is fear of getting lost in the high school and being late to classes. And honestly, I'm thrilled that
they're not this fear is not of being beat up, but like right like it's not of but like please that shouldn't be the fear either. Um and then we have been working with the transportation working group in the city that includes people from Medford High School about our
transportation issues and we've engaged TUS and we've engaged the senior center and we've engaged some of the transportation there are uh nonprofits and organizations that do transportation and we've been trying to figure some stuff out and right now all our solutions are only for the senior
population but I am convinced in my heart that there is the synergy between the needs of our seniors and the needs of our students where they we transport students in the mornings and in the evenings and the seniors in the middle of the day while those kids are in
school and that the city could figure something out there. Um but we're not we're not ending up there yet. We haven't figured that out. Um and around the vocational spaces. So my son's in the robotics. He's actually my second son to go through robotics. And I just
have to say I think that you should go talk to the vocational students during the day and just go meet with some of them in some of their spaces and understand how they use those spaces. Um because I know that they're doing a lot of really rem remarkable stuff. My
impression is that the MSBA would never fund spaces these big. Um please don't take the fire department and police department. They would freak out if they saw. I'm just kidding, but I'm not. Like the equipment that these guys are learning and they get OSHA training in the robotic shop at least they get OSHA
training. I think a lot of the VO programs do. Um so that's some of the sort of the thoughts. And um to be clear, as far does not have to have solar on every inch of its roof, but our goal is net
zero buildings in the city of Medford. Um, and this is our flagship and we need to do demonstration. And the only reason that building doesn't have solar yet is because of the state of the roofs and the roofs that have been over the years.
I've been on a lot of those roofs. And I was horrified when they took the science labs and they put all this equipment spread all over the place. I'm like, you're ruining our roofs for solar. Let's think about roof design and HVAC design that allows for solar on the
roofs because what I heard from Chief Evans was when you do solar, let's do it safely, not don't do it. >> Yes. No, and we'll get into those conversations. Uh, appreciate that, Alicia. Thank you. >> Yeah, I'm sure I had more thoughts, but other people started to say some of the
things that I was thinking, too. And I've biked up there, too. It's not easy. And I've biked up there with kids, and it's not pleasant. But what are you going to do? We're not going to lower the site, right? Would we? >> More to come. Yes, for sure. Um Nick,
you are up next. >> Good evening once again. I I I hope y'all can hear hear me well. >> We can. Yes. Thank you. I um yeah so um as the disability specialist and as a disabled person
myself uh my main concern is accessibility um accessibility to the school itself, accessibility to the to to the various students for for their classrooms and stuff like that. Um,
I did not go to Medford High School precisely for this reason. Um, even though I went through public school for all my my my elementary and my mid middle
school years, um, I had to go to a private school because Medford High was not accessible and was way too big um, for someone with a walker or a wheelchair to to to be going from from
the north side to the south side to east side to the west side within five minutes um would just not be possible. Um so um not only am I thinking of that, but I'm
also thinking of literally entering the school building. Um I I haven't been to to to to high in a few years, but um the ramp that they have going up to to to the door. Um yeah. No, no, no, no, no.
Uh way too steep. Way too steep. Um and it's not okay. Um uh if someone was in a manual wheelchair and they had to come out, they'd go flying
uh literally flying on onto the street and jump um and uh trying to access the the the various um um entryways of the building is very
difficult. Um, that being said, much of my job in terms of the the the the the city itself, um, I work with a lot of these people that that are on on
this call. So, it's good to to see um some some of my friends here. Um but um one of the major things that I deal with is site is site plan
reviews. So I I will be one one one of the the people that looks at the blueprint and like yeah this this works or no this does not work. Um so that is one one one of my major concerns. Um,
also just to re re reiterate, um, not not just being able to access the the the building itself, but but being able to maneuver inside, um, get getting from class to class, get
getting from point A to point B. Um, like like I said, I've lived in my my my whole life. I never knew we had a pool until just now. Um, and that's probably be be because I I wouldn't have been able to access it
anyway. Uh, so um things like that are very important. Um to to also re reiterate um
the high school is a communal space that there there is a church that meets in in the high school on on on Sundays. Um so I know some some some of the the people that go there. Um, and the fact that
I know how how how inaccessible that that the high school is. So, I've never made a point of of going there. Um, and that should tell you how many people might be thinking that same way. Um I if
uh if we have a events in in in the school when I was growing up they they used to to to be a children's Americ I I was part of of that call called
chorus but Um, I I remember how long of of a walk it was just to get to to the music room from from from from the main door. Um, so again, being able to to to to
my maneuver that and let me just say, um, me not going to Mford High School was not my parents choice. It it was my choice be >> because I knew I would not be be able to maneuver the inside of of that bill
building within good time despite how having all my friends go there. Um so stuff like that. Uh and um uh I I again
uh I I work ve very closely with with with both chiefs on this phone I mean on this Zoom call um and and so I'm I'm sure our roles will will overlap as well um in terms of safety and whatnot. Um,
and so yeah, I I think that's really what I have to to say on that. >> Thank you, Nick. Again, appreciate your perspective. >> All right. Um, Ethan, you are up next. >> Thanks. Um, so I'll start out with some
just overarching kind of site planning goals and principles to consider. Um, so I think you know site planning goals, we want to focus on a functional and welcoming campus, keep students safe, allow staff to supervise and respond quickly to emergencies. Um, and really
all those those goals should span the site planning, safety and security as a integrated package for the new high school. The campus should be organized so it's clear conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians are minimized. Learning spaces can expand in the future. Um we
should ensure that good access to outdoor learning areas. Uh preserving green spaces and kind of separating noisy functions from quiet academic zones. Um so providing safe efficient circulation for buses, parent drop off, student drivers, service vehicles,
pedestrians with clearly separated paths. Uh locate buildings, fields, and parking based on topography, drainage, environmental constraints. also allowing for room for future additions. Create a campus that feels welcoming, legible, easy to navigate
with clear wayfinding and logical zoning of uses uh relative to safety. You know, ensure safe pedestrian routes with generous well-lit walkways, accessible entrances, protected crossings, especially near dropoff zones. Designed for clear emergency egress and gathering
areas with obvious evacuation routes, access for fire, police, EMS. uh also address environmental and building safety, so structural integrity, site drainage, indoor air quality, safe materials, etc. for student health. Um and also, you know, while doing this,
you know, consider uh there's uh concepts from the like crime prevention through environmental design that could be applied. uh things like natural surveillance, controlled access, territorial reinforcement, um being able to, you know, detect
intruders and enable staff and first responders to respond quickly, but doing all that without making the high school feel like a fortress. Um, and so some of the ways you could start to do that, limiting and controlling public access with smaller number of
supervised entry points, secure main vestibule leading to reception, uh, maximize visibility with clear sight lines, appropriate lighting, window placement so parking paths and entrances can be easily monitored. Define secure perimeters, internal zones using
fencing, landscaping, doors, access controls, all aligned with lockdown and emergency procedures. Um, and I think that's kind of like the baseline that we need to achieve. And this next little bit is a little bit more um exciting in
in that I'm trying to incorporate some ideas about how you could actually integrate the high school site plan with the fells. So I think site planning and fells access needs to be a primary objective. Uh, we want to create a coherent network of pedestrian and bike
connections from the campus to the fells that are safe, visible, accessible in all seasons. Reinforce the school's role as a gateway to the fells rather than a barrier at its edge. Uh, organize buildings, parking, and circulation to pull hard edges away from the fells. Um,
reserve that edge for habitat, outdoor learning areas, low impact recreation rather than vehicle dominated uses like today. uh use site grading, planting, storm water system to restore more natural hydrarology along the fell's interface. >> Ethan, I apologize.
Um just at the three minutes, I want to make sure that we have time for everybody. Um if if it's possible for you to just uh give us um sort of the the rest of it as written, that would be very much appreciated. >> Yeah, sure. >> Okay. Thank you. I apologize again.
That's I am not the best world the world's best interrupter um by far. No worries. >> All right, Ken. >> Yeah, thank you. Um, so over my career, I've been involved in, I think, seven other school building projects. I'm really interested in seeing how this one
can solve some of the issues I've seen that have come out of designs and other schools that I've been involved with. Um, some of my prim areas of concern start with just site circulation, separating the bus and parent traffic and student parking traffic and pedestrian traffic on site, making sure
that's safe. Uh, well lit but not lit so it bothers the neighbors. That's always, you know, an important concept of, you know, light pollution. um making sure that inside the building we can segment all of our public areas properly from
the school areas so that if we have JLS using a tremendous amount of our building as they do every Saturday, we can still segment it off in the rest of the building so we can have activities in other parts making sure the gym, the library, the theater, all those other
spaces can be segmented and used. um our meeting spaces um also being able to uh be used like right now we have a you know the one popular PD place that we use is in the third floor of the science wing so getting people to and from there in the during the day for public
meetings is difficult um making sure the site's fully accessible um easily accessible from people who have disabilities and uh one thing we did in the last project I was in Wilmington is we actually had CISA the cyber security information security agency or the
federal government, they provide um physical security assessment um advice. So they'll have someone who will come out and will actually advise on design in current current spaces and how they can be protected for security reasons from whether it be from sight
circulation to avoid vehicle ramming opportunities whether it's intentional or accidental separating traffic um internal uh examination for security cameras and secure glass and all that kind of stuff. So, I'm I'm really interested in all of those things um to
make this as a safe and secure and usable um space that we can. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Um all right. Um Sean, I think had to hop off, so I think it is Tim who is up
next. >> Thank you. I heard a lot of great things and I'm going to try not to repeat those things, but I heard lots of great things. So um and I also understand it's very very early so there's not very many drawings or uh things that we can
review. So totally understood um which is a great opportunity for me to sort of highlight which a lot of folks have been early site design is really important and setting goals in your site um and going up on the school if you need to multiple stories to to get some of those
goals realized on the site I think is important. Um, you know, I'm going to be looking at the the circulation as well, how it's designed, uh, especially for maintenance. Obviously, that's going to be my focus. But, um, I think for, uh,
things like, uh, bus loops, parking, uh, for students versus faculty versus public, buses, drop offs, a lot of things that were said, good lighting, uh, the site work, you know, should be to city standards, materials and things
like that. Um and then you know some folks talked about construction but that's that's going to matter. It's a large site uh if if that's the site that that is this is happening at. So you know erosion control is going to be a big deal. Uh construction traffic leaving and entering the site. Those
conflicts and and those types of impacts are going to be um you know going to be really important especially when the building is is uh going up and they're doing heavy heavy uh site work as well. Um, just a couple things to note. I think it's important to note, Steve
Miller Drive is a public road. It's not really part of the site. Uh, so, um, you know, it it it is a landlocked site, uh, as folks have mentioned. So, that's the way in, that's the way out. And, um, the hill, there's not a lot you can do about that, as Alicia mentioned, because the
site's mostly probably sitting on ledge. Um, if uh, you know, the the fells right next door is any sign of that, which it is. So, um, anyway, looking forward to the project and looking forward to reviewing, you know, drawings and, uh, you know, I've worked on, uh, complex
sites like this before and the phasing is going to really drive it. So, it's going to be interesting to see how you guys, uh, do this. So, good luck in the challenge. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. Definitely is a challenge, but we uh, we do enjoy it actually.
>> It's a good one. Definitely. John Mclofflin. We can't hear you yet. >> Hi, John Mclofflin, director of facilities. And um it's it's it's it's excellent to hear people's perspectives
on on all of the uh u different aspects that they want to see. being uh an employee of the school department for 38 years primarily up at Mer High School, we've discussed them all in in the past
and in the future. Uh the security issues with Chief Buckley and and Chief Evans uh with the fire issues, I've had a unique perspective to to be involved in in all of those discussions over the years. Um
I'm definitely looking forward to it. I I I I do enjoy, like I said, I I enjoy listening to uh the public's perspectives. Like I never even thought about biking up the hill and and and you know, and the kids getting tired, you know, that's something that I that has
never uh uh uh really I've heard before and it's a very interesting perspective and it's a real perspective and it's, you know, and it in in in uh uh design the designing of the the the building. So, we still don't really know where
we're what we're going what we're going to receive just yet, but it's good to hear that uh the people that involved that I I believe that, you know, listening to all everybody, Alicia, um they we we have a good understanding and
idea of what we need to uh uh to to do. Nick uh um you know, accessibility. I mean, the building's 1970. There was nothing accessible in 1970. Anything that's accessible up there was an add-on. Uh, and and it's just uh it's good to hear everybody and and and I
look forward to uh to to to moving forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, John. Um, John Prist Giovani, I didn't butcher that too poorly. I know that he is probably still hanging around
in the gym right now. All right. Um, so then I think we might kick it over to Melissa. >> Looks like we've got John. >> Sure. >> Oh, go ahead, John. >> Yep. >> Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Um,
some awesome things hearing tonight. you know, as um as with Matt Dooy, you know, him and I both graduated here in 1992, and we've both been fixures of the school um here on the on site for many, many moves in different roles. Um the site circulation is huge.
Um as as there's an event going on at the Turk Field, when there's events going on in the school, the gym area, um a Saturday morning for Japanese school, the traffic and the safety, the parking is just horrendous. So hopefully
learning and helping with that function would be fantastic. Um, everyone has really kind of threw in some ideas of the notes that I had. Um, I love the idea about this being the flagship of our city uh, with community space. Love
to see something like a quad area like like they have on college campuses with our beautiful view into Boston. um something more into the athletic side of it. Maybe an indoor outdoor track or dome type um building
um for winter seasons for us to utilize and for our not just our fall for our athletes here at Memphis High School, but our youth sports can utilize this year at the high school. Um so many great ideas. Um, lots of, you know,
looking at in around parking areas, athletic fields, things like like you mentioned already, like more lighting, more security. I like the idea about maybe some more fencing. Um, we see it as as working out working up at the turf
fields and working in and out of the bench. We have other students from other schools utilizing our equipment here, using our facilities, using using our turf fields. Um they don't even live in Medford. They they they sneak in and use
our field because it's here. Um they show more cameras, more security, more lighting to hopefully, you know, stop some of that type of stuff going on. But you kind of everyone's all hit on the points that I I wanted to bring up, but you know, again, this the site
circulation, the safety, the security is some things that definitely would like to look at going forward and seeing what we can do from this group. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you, John. Appreciate that. Um, and now we can go over to Melissa.
>> Hi. Um, so I guess reasons why I had interest here. Um I I work on some large scale projects in the city of Cambridge and it is obvious to me that in these large scale pro projects you see a lot of uh departments not talking to each
other or they don't realize one department's working on something or another department's my big deal my my big thing I would like to bring to the table is collaboration across departments and asking people what they're actually what their needs are. Um it everyone thinks they're doing the best job, but it it's always surprising.
You never usually don't have someone who has an overarching view of, you know, of what is going on. So the fact that we have a third party running this is exciting to me. Um the two-way access I can say I'm not again born and raised in Medford, but I have gone to the high school many times because I have a small child trying to go to the Medford Family
Network events at night. I have gone got stuck up in that corner and then I was trapped in the I said, "Oh, maybe I belong here. Maybe I don't." No signs. It's dark. I'm like knocking. I have my 5-year-old daughter just trying to go in like that winter like night event. It's a little wild uh the way the parking
works and how everything is set up in there. Um and I've done a lot of Medford Family Network events. It's just it needs to be a circle. Every time I think of that, I think of it as the same thing as that Everett Plaza. Like you just if an emergency happened there, you are trapped. You are stuck there and it's like good luck. Um because it's a one
way in, one way out. um community community buildings, community access. Again, it the flagship is something I'm interested in in a in a modern flow. Um but yeah, I I guess what everyone said, I really do piggyback on them, but I I
don't think people think hard enough, right? Like I had issues with buses here in Medford and you can work with your state representative. We can ask for things. I think Medford is like the last to come to the table. were like thrilled to get like other people's crumbs. And in reality, we are a big enough city. We
are uh we are here. We are residents that pay taxes just like everybody else. And we should be asking from things from the state. We should be asking for additional buses. We should be asking for grants and additional funding. Um that I feel like we always think of like as a secondary thing. And that's I don't know that is
>> true. >> It isn't true. >> It isn't true. >> No, we're always looking. We do ask the state to move buses. We ask for more service. We analyze everything that they put out. And Alicia's office in particular is outstanding at getting grants. And we look for nothing. You
guys don't I'm saying nothing doesn't happen. I'm saying I was very close when I was lived in Somerville. I work for another community. Again, funding is just done very differently in Medford than it is in neighboring communities. And sorry, I it wasn't meant to like I
don't know. It wasn't meant to badmouth. It really is. Yeah. Sorry. Thank you. >> We do we do communicate with the MBTA. We request for buses. We change bus routes. We move stuff. We do that on the regular. It's part of our normal process. >> Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you. But she but I think what we're getting at
maybe some of this do does the school know to tell the the DPW department in transportation that it would be great if those MBTA buses left 15 minutes later or 10 minutes later and that we'd asked for that. Like that's this internal
conversation that sometimes it happens and sometimes it happens bec ad hoc and not like as intentional as it could be. >> More Alicia. I'm keeping a very long list of asks for our state delegation. So,
>> and and I'm smiling just because I know that like there's a little bit of tension there, but I think it's it's great to be able to sort of have these conversations um and have the opportunity for each department to sort of share um out what they are doing. I mean, that's really the focus here is to try to make sure that we can all hear
each other um as we start to sort through what the issues are on site. Um, so I have I think a minute. I'm not sure if that's enough time to get the uh screen back up here. I'll try to do it very quickly. Um, just to remind people
that January 13th is our next meeting. Um, we put up some topics and just so you can understand what to expect the next time. Um, as we went through, I think actually we've covered a lot of these. There's a lot more um, topics that were brought up today which are absolutely excellent. Um and we will
dive into um those as we move forward into the next meeting. Um we will be trying to do that last or sorry the next meeting um as a hybrid meeting um so that there can be an inerson component. So for that those of you that do want to uh get together in person that we have
that opportunity. But again really appreciate everyone's time this evening. Um understanding that it's a busy time of year um and that we're late into the evening here but um your your voices are very very much appreciated. So, with that, I will Oh, Chief Buckley
has a parting word. >> Sorry about that. No, I'm not. I just a question. Is there going to be further information we could have available? Like, one of the things I'm interested is what is the actual square footage of the land we own and what is the square footage of the current building and what
is do we know yet is intended to be kept during construction. I think that's going to put a little bit of perspective for me. Anyway, >> we can certainly share that information just as we have it. We are in the they're in the the final stages of finishing up the on-site work for the
survey now. Um probably early in the new year, we'll have an actual survey that will confirm the acreage. Um and we're just about there with the survey of the existing building, the scanning of it as well to confirm that. Um so in the not too distant future, we definitely will have that. I will leave us with the
notion that we still don't have any idea of what's going to be renovated or saved or built new. Um those are the things that we're going to be exploring um as we get into the new year. Um I think as Jenny you mentioned the fact that the building committee meetings um are going to start to touch on some of those things. So um if you're curious there um
and you want to either watch those live, participate in them live, or watch them after the fact. Um it's a great opportunity to sort of become um a little bit more uh up to speed with the project. Um but Chief Buckley, we're also going to be reaching out to you um Chief Evans specifically with that
information as we go forward. >> Thank you. >> And then uh just some housekeeping as well. Um, we'll work on sending out the email for or the calendar invite for next month's meeting um before the holiday break and then we might just update it once we figure out the exact
location and hybrid um setup. So, just keep an eye out for that invite and if you could just accept it or decline depending on your availability that would be greatly beneficial for us. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Will. And thank you again everybody. Um hope everyone has a good
evening. Bye everyone.