Fall 2030 is Estimated Opening Date for Framingham’s New South Side Elementary School

FRAMINGHAM - The company brought on board for the project to develop a new south side elementary school in Framingham, which would replace Hemenway Elementary School, has estimated that the new facility could open in the fall of 2030.

The update was provided during the Framingham School Committee’s meeting at the Memorial Building on Wednesday, November 5.

In late 2023, Framingham was approved to join the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which paved the way for local leaders to work alongside state officials to begin devising strategies for the new school’s development. The elementary school is planned to be built along Bethany Road after the city purchased the former Sisters of St. Joseph property for $9 million in 2023. The city’s School Building Committee, a 13-member group formed to progress the new school plan, met for the first time in April 2024.

Proponents of a new south side school believe Framingham residents living south of Route 9 are in need of increased educational accessibility, while contending that the current space at Hemenway—which was built in 1961—is not sufficient.

Project Manager Chris Eberly from the construction management company VERTEX, along with Chair of the School Building Committee and At-Large City Council member George King, spoke to School Committee members during Wednesday’s meeting. King explained that VERTEX, which has worked on elementary school projects across Massachusetts, has been on-boarded over the course of the last few months. King mentioned that selecting a designer is one of the next steps the city has to take; Eberly recommended that the review of those applicants from the design selection process begin by late January 2026.

Eberly said the feasibility study required by the MSBA is ongoing, as he and his team will be providing updates to local education officials throughout the process. The study must be completed, according to Eberly, to determine what the project calls for and how much money can be reimbursed by the state.

Eberly told the School Committee this week that this is, essentially, a five-year process. His current estimation is that the City Council could vote on the project in August 2027. From there, construction could start in September 2028 in order for the school to open in August 2030.

During that time, Eberly suggested that a variety of community forums be held.

“(Those timelines), obviously, can change as we bring the designer on board…But these are really the goals that we’re setting from the onset to understand your community, design your school, and construct your school,” Eberly continued on Wednesday.

The School Building Committee’s initial target when first meeting in April 2024 was to open the new south side school in the fall of 2029.

King said that the next two years are perhaps the most important part of this process. He explained the city will have to determine factors such as how students will be assigned to local schools and what is actually possible to build at the Bethany Road site. King told the School Committee he and the group he chairs have not had much to do prior to the last few months, though they’ve been informed about what the feasibility study entails.

“I think the extra time was worthwhile, because it got people to understand the process and where we had to go,” King said at the Memorial Building.

“But now the real work starts, so we’ll see how we do.”

District 4 School Committee member Adam Freudberg reminded his colleagues that local leaders must also consider the next steps for the Hemenway property itself, as the site is owned by the city. Framingham School Superintendent Dr. Robert Tremblay has suggested using the Hemenway building for an expansion to pre-K and kindergarten programming once the new south side school opens.