The Conservatory Lab Charter School, which has converted its old Lower School building on Hancock Street – once a nursing home – into a first-rate school facility, welcomed some 225 students, most of them from Dorchester and Mattapan, into their new digs last Tuesday morning in the kickoff to a new school term.
Across the city, schools began welcoming back students last week and will continue to do so this week, with Boston Public Schools (BPS) returning most students today (Sept. 4).
Conservatory Lab students Jakobi Givens and Aziah Kirnon posed for a photo on the first day before going into their new school on Hancock Street.
At Conservatory Lab – a public charter school focused on infusing music-assisted learning into all subjects, the Lower School at 133 Hancock St. needed a wholesale renovation and additional space for grades K1-2. The Upper School (grades 3-8) had premiered a brand new school on Columbia Road in 2022, and the dream was to have a full K-8 campus in Dorchester that was new and updated at all grade levels.
The dream became a reality on Aug. 26, when construction was completed by Consigli Construction in a project that began last October.
“This is one of those rare projects that exceeds expectations,” said Conservatory Lab Foundation Executive Director Matt Chapuran, who noted that some punch list items, such as landscaping, still are incomplete. “We expected a renovation of the old side of the building alongside the new parts, but the entire building feels brand new…It’s full of life and energy and way beyond what we hoped for.”
Outside the school, students buzzed about with the typical high energy that accompanies a return to elementary school, but there was an added enthusiasm thanks to the improved facility. They had been relocated last year to Mt. Pleasant Street in Roxbury and were happy to return home to Dorchester.
Meanwhile, last year’s kindergartners and this year’s transfer students were seeing the facility for the first time.
“I had to pull my daughter out of a different school, and I was able to get her into this school now,” said one parent, who asked not to be named, as kids began filing into the new facility. “I am so happy and relieved for her. This is a very special day.”
Chapuran noted the school bought the 1960s-era nursing home in 2015 and had made improvements to the building over the years, but it still did not match the exceptional quality of the Upper School on Columbia Road. After a robust fundraising campaign led by board members and allies of the school, money became available last year to allow for the groundbreaking last October.
CLCS Executive Director Nicole Mack and teacher Katie Porter. Seth Daniel photos
About 19,000 square feet of the building was renovated, while 6,000 square feet were added for the cafeteria flex space and other classrooms use. The playground was moved as well, and a full landscaping plan is in place.
Councillor Brian Worrell was on hand to help welcome students. “It is very impressive,” he said. “It’s full of life and you feel it when you walk in. To have this new facility in our neighborhood is what we need to develop our children and make sure they are learning in a comfortable space and with access to high-quality facilities. I applaud the work.”
The total cost of the project was $25.6 million, with $5.5 million raised from private philanthropy and $2.3 million in new market tax credits. The remainder is being financed via long-term funding.
