When the Major Howard W. Beal Elementary School in Shrewsbury was selected for inclusion in the MSBA Model School Program, it became the third LPA|A-designed school selected for the program in the Shrewsbury School District.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority’s Model School Building Program is intended to adapt and re-use the design of highly successful, recently constructed school designs.

According to the MSBA, schools selected to be part of the program are, “efficient in design and easy to maintain, contains optimal classroom and science lab space, can easily accommodate higher or lower enrollments, incorporate ‘green’ design elements when possible and are flexible in educational programming space while encouraging community use.”

Beal’s green design elements resulted in a LEED Silver certification and while the school was designed for an enrollment of 790 it could easily be adapted for 600 or more than 900 students.

Assistant Superintendent and former Beal Principal Chris Girardi said of the design, “I think the reason why there is such success here is because there is a really great balance of vision — professional vision — and being willing to listen and reflect on what the community wanted and to shapeshift over time to really reflect that.”

Shrewsbury High was selected for the program back in 2012, followed by Sherwood Middle School in 2016, then Beal Elementary in 2023. The completion of the Beal School was the final piece of a master plan that LPA|A had developed for the town in 1998.  A new master plan for the town was completed last year and includes a potential addition/renovation to address overcrowding at their high school, which was invited into MSBA’s eligibility period last month.

Project Architect on the Beal School design team, Sean Brennan said of the designation, “We are proud to have one of our designs selected for the program, because it serves as recognition that MSBA views the design as worthy of replicating. Having schools at each level —elementary, middle and high schools — all within the Shrewsbury District is especially gratifying, as developing long-term client relationships is a core value for LPA|A.”

The video above shows the three schools in Shrewsbury including views inside Beal Elementary.