Somerville High School Video Tour: See the Problems

SOMERVILLE, MA - Somerville High School is not in great shape and school officials made a video to prove it.

In the video, former school superintendent Tony Pierantozzi takes us on a tour of the small classrooms, narrow hallways and prison-like cafeterias.

The Somerville High School building is decrepit and eating up an alarming amount of energy. There is a chance the school could lose its accreditation if not renovated, hurting students’ chances of getting into their college of choice, according to the Somerville High School Building Committee.

The City of Somerville was accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MBSA) grant program and is now working on the best “educationally appropriate and cost effective” way to solve the problems, the SHS Building Committee said.

Efforts are underway to find a location for a new school but other options include renovating the current building or planning new construction on the site, the SHS Building Committee said.

Somerville High School was first built in 1872 and hasn’t been renovated since 1986. The antiquated heating system and terrible insulation makes it impossible to regulate classroom temperatures, the SHS Building Committee reported.

"In warm weather the rooms become very warm. It is estimated most of the heating system is over 80 years old. Some of the rooms are very hot during the winter and some are very cold..." Pierantozzi said in the video.

At its most recent review by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), it was said that if renovation efforts were not made by the next meeting the school’s accreditation would be brought into question, according to the SHS Building Committee.

See the full video below: