Hundreds of Auburn residents and others came out for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at Auburn Middle School on August 29^th. The ceremony was preceded by a tour of the new 100,000 square-foot building, where visitors were impressed with the bright and spacious lobby, classrooms, media center, cafeteria, and more. LPA had conducted a feasibility study in 2013 which determined that the new 560-student middle school serving grades 6, 7, and 8 was needed.

The educational program is a team-based curriculum, and includes state-of-the art flexible science labs utilizing short-throw LCD projectors, laptops, and tablets. The building is divided into separate academic and community-use spaces by a sky-lit entrance space which also serves as a lobby for the gymnasium, cafeteria, and school store.

At the event, Superintendent Maryellen Brunelle, School Building Committee Chair Mark Imse, Jack McCarthy from the MSBA, and other local officials all spoke about the smooth and successful process in getting the school up and running in time for the new school year, and they thanked the community repeatedly for their support of the project. Speakers thanked OPM Skanska USA, the Construction team at Fontaine Brothers, Inc., the MSBA, as well as LPA.

“The team at LPA provided expert architectural guidance from inception to completion of the recently opened Auburn Middle School.  Committed to ensuring that the end product reflected the vision of the School Building Committee and the school’s administration, communication was open and ongoing, resulting in a state of the art educational facility in which the entire Auburn community takes great pride,” said Maryellen Brunelle, Superintendent of Auburn Public Schools.

Now that the school year is underway, students are taking full advantage of all that the new building has to offer, participating in science demonstrations in the outdoor classroom space, getting their exercise on the athletic multi-use synthetic turf field, and engaging in team-building activities in the new gymnasium. The comfortable, clean, and well-lit spaces create an enhanced learning environment for all students.

To see more images of the Auburn Middle School see the Portfolio on our website.