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The History of Floral Street School

Dedicated on Sunday, October 5, 1997, Floral Street Elementary School is one of Shrewsbury's newest educational facility. The construction costs were $12.5 million. Shrewsbury received 64% reimbursement for the project from the State of Massachusetts. The school was completed in July of 1997 and opened on August 27, 1997 with 686 students and a professional staff of 50 . It was designed by the Architectural firm of Lamoureux & Pagano, and built by Jackson Construction Company. The School Building Committee, under the leadership of Edwin B. Coghlin, Jr., supervised the complete construction project.

The 94,000 sq. ft facility houses students in grades one to four, in classroom clusters. Each cluster consists of six classrooms and two smaller instructional areas for special education and resource programs. The clusters, differentiated by color, allow students to identify with a smaller unit in the large school community. The building contains a large art classroom complete with skylights and a kiln, an acoustically-designed music room and a full size regulation gymnasium (7,168 sq. ft).

The 2,908 sq. ft Media Center contains space for a large print collection as well as state of the art technology. Each of the thirty-three classrooms contains four networked computers that provide students and staff immediate access to the Internet and a comprehensive collection of software in the media center. Each classroom also has a 32" television monitor that can be used to support the computers in the classroom or to receive video programming sent from the Media Center.

Student lunch periods are held in the wood paneled 4,908 sq. ft cafetorium. Two serving lines allow the students to make daily lunch selections from a widely varied menu. The cafetorium contains a fully equipped stage that will allow for school productions and community programs. A large storage area in the basement of the school provides space for district-wide storage.

Located on 38 acres of land, the school site offers many opportunities for environmental education programs. An outdoor classroom with a seating capacity of 200 faces the woods and wetlands in the rear of the school. Grants have been awarded to the school to allow students and staff to create raised gardens, explore the adjacent wetlands, and develop nature paths in the woods. Community participation in the development of educational, environmental and recreational activities for the school is highly valued and encouraged.

As expressed in the school mission statement, a strong parent/school partnership has developed in order to support rich and challenging academic programs and the emphasis on a respectful community.