HOLDEN — It may have seemed like a long wait for students crowded into spaces at Dawson Elementary School, but it has taken less than six months to get modular units installed at the school.
On Jan. 2, students returned to the school, which had the two added classrooms.
“This is quite a happy way to start the New Year, as it has been a huge project over the past several months,” Principal Joy Wilde said.
“It is so exciting for our school community,” Wilde said, adding thanks “for all the hard work and patience from our staff, both at the building and district level.
“We are very thrilled to get these instructional spaces, and (send a) thank you to all who helped make this possible. The impact on the larger physical space is going to make a huge impact on the student learning experience, including greater opportunities to engage in deeper learning with the curriculum and their peers,” she added.
“It’s pretty incredible that we talked about something in August and it was done by the first of the year,” Superintendent James Reilly told the Wachusett Regional School Committee Jan. 8.
“The kids are pretty happy to be in their classrooms. It’s incredible how good they look,” he said.
“Teachers over the break were getting classrooms set up,” so they were ready after the winter break.
“We’re really thrilled this could happen,” Reilly said, noting those who made it happen, from town officials and committees to district staff.
“It’s one of the better stories we talked about this year,” he said.
The added two classrooms were first discussed in the summer. In what can often be a multiyear process, modular units can be ordered, built and installed.
In Holden it took mere months, with quick voter action at a fall Town Meeting and acquiring a couple modulars that were almost, but not quite, new.
