Amherst Public Schools

Construction Update - Summer 2024:

Construction activity will be miminal to paused for the balance of summer. The early sitework is complete, with only minor maintenance work remaining. Bidding for the General Contractor will begin in early July. Construction of the new building will begin between late August and mid-September. All construction work will take place behind the existing construction fence and all construction vehicles will access the worksite via the dedicated southern driveway. Access to the existing school will continue in the pattern established in April 2024 and will remain unchanged throughout construction of the new school building.

Please visit the FAQ page for more information.

Amherst Elementary School Building Project

Mission: To build an excellent elementary school that supports child-centered education, meets diverse educational needs of our children in daylight-filled classrooms, uses the outdoors for education and play, and does so in a cost-effective “green” building that incorporates “net zero” energy principles.

Our Project Advances...

A brief description of the project:

The proposed new school will replace Wildwood and Fort River Schools with one new elementary school on the Fort River site.
The Amherst School Committee and Amherst Pelham School Committee have voted to move Amherst’s sixth-grade students to the middle school. The new school will therefore be kindergarten through fifth grade.
The new three-story school will have a capacity of 575 students, with five classrooms for each of the six grades.
It will be a Net Zero building using ground source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels to supply 100% of the energy for the building. The site will include space for outdoor learning and play.
The project began with Amherst's acceptance into the Masachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Core Program in December 2019.
In March 2023, the Town submitted the Schematic Design report to the MSBA: the project was approved at the April 26, 2023 MSBA Board meeting. The approved project built on two earlier reports: Preliminary Design Program (3/2022) which assessed space needs given the education program, community priorities, and existing conditions, and provided preliminary comparisons of Options and the Preferred Schematic Report (6/2022) that selected a new, three-story building at the Fort River site preferred option.
Voters approved municipal funding for the project in a debt exclusion vote on May 2, 2023.
This website serves as a source of information for the project.