Local Officials Celebrate Brookline HS Renovations With Ribbon Cutting

BROOKLINE, MA — A group of students, staff, community members, and local elected officials convened on Wednesday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new Brookline High School STEM and 22 Tappan Street buildings.

The STEM building, located at the corner of Greenough Street and Tappan Street, features 70,000 square feet of new biology and chemistry classrooms, makerspace, a culinary arts kitchen and café, and administrative and support space.

The 22 Tappan St. building contains 120,000 square feet primarily dedicated to general use classrooms, a library, physics labs, special education classrooms, a cafeteria, a “white box” theater, and administrative and support space. According to the district, the mixed programmatic distribution across buildings helps foster the district’s initiatives to enhance diversity and inclusion.

The ceremony commenced in the cafeteria of the 22 Tappan Street building with remarks by BHS Construction Project Co-Chairs Susan Wolf Ditkoff and Nancy Heller. Ditkoff, a former School Committee member, acknowledged the elected officials in attendance, including State Senator Cynthia Creem, State Representative Tommy Vitolo, members of the School Committee, and members of the Select Board. She also thanked the community for coming together to make this project possible and thanked Vitolo for his efforts to help secure MBTA air rights for the 22 Tappan Street building.

“I give tremendous credit to both the High School Building Committee and the MBTA for executing this incredibly complex project,” Vitolo said after the ceremony. "Their response to my calls for improving the initial station design to better serve riders was immediate and thorough. Students and staff, neighbors and commuters are all better off thanks to their cooperation and collaboration.”

Following Ditkoff’s remarks, Heller, both a former School Committee member and Select Board member, regaled the attendees with a poem she wrote channeling the stylistic spirit of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem summarized the history of the BHS construction project.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Superintendent of the Public Schools of Brookline (PSB) Linus Guillory, BHS Assistant Head of School Hal Mason, PSB Senior Director of Equity Jenee Uttaro, teacher Stephanie McAllister Poon, and ninth grade student Ravin Bhatia.

A common thread among all of the speakers was the appreciation for the voters of Brookline and the many stakeholders who made this project a reality. Speakers noted the importance of creating a space that works for students, neighbors, and the community as a whole.

“This was an historic day in Brookline,” Ditkoff said. “It showed how a public school system can center students and educators in our design, and build outstanding educational spaces that benefit our entire community. These spaces will generate creativity and collaboration for generations to come.”

After the speakers concluded their public remarks, Creem, Vitolo and members past and present of the School Committee, Select Board, BHS Building Committee, and PSB leadership gathered for the ceremonial ribbon cutting.

“I am elated to see the community come together today and celebrate this collaborative achievement,” School Committee Chair David Pearlman said. “These new high school buildings will provide state-of-the-art amenities to meet the needs of generations of students, staff, and the broader community.”