New Coakley Middle School

 The new Dr. Philip O. Coakley Middle School is more than just a building project; it’s a community-driven transformation decades in the making.

A new chapter in education is taking shape in Norwood as the town prepares to unveil its reimagined Dr. Philip O. Coakley Middle School—a $100 million, state-of-the-art facility designed to meet the evolving needs of 21st-century learners.

The effort to replace the aging middle school began nearly a decade ago. In 2016–2017, a district-wide study highlighted the school’s serious overcrowding, lack of modern infrastructure, and constrained learning spaces. That study sparked a series of planning phases with collaboration from local leaders, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), architects, and community members.

At a Special Town Meeting in March of 2022, Alan Slater, Chair of the Middle School Building Committee, delivered a comprehensive presentation outlining the steps that led to the Committee’s pivotal recommendation. Tracing the effort back to the initial 2017 facilities study, Slater detailed the extensive process that included dozens of School Committee and Building Committee meetings, as well as numerous public presentations and online forums held over the past two years.

“The recommendation was unequivocal,” Slater stated. “The most pressing facilities issue facing the Norwood Public Schools is the absence of a modern, 21st-century middle school environment. Our existing school lacks adequately sized classrooms and support spaces, and it operates with outdated infrastructure. The learning environment is not only challenging but falls far short of what students in neighboring districts experience.”

Slater emphasized that both Norwood and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) recognized the middle school as a top priority in the broader statewide context.

The new Coakley Middle School occupies the previous athletic field, integrating 320 parking spaces and infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging stations. Designed to serve 1,020 students, with flexibility to accommodate up to 1,250, the school aims to meet the town’s growing educational demands. Once the existing school is demolished, a synthetic, lighted athletic field will be constructed in its place, accessible for use by the Norwood Recreation Department.

The new four-story facility embraces a thoughtful design: the front section, housing public-facing spaces such as the auditorium, student commons, media center, and gymnasium with a fitness room, will be lower in height. Each grade will occupy its own floor, promoting a secure, community-focused environment especially beneficial for younger students.

Principal Margo Fraczek underscored the challenges of the current building, where overcrowding has forced Spanish and French classes into the library and prompted creative use of every available space. “We’ve turned closets into classrooms,” she remarked. After extensive collaboration with staff and a rigorous space justification process, Fraczek proudly noted that the school’s Educational Program was praised by the MSBA as one of the best they had reviewed.

The new facility addresses critical issues—classroom windows, storage space, and team-based learning accommodations among them—that the existing structure cannot adequately support.

Committee Chair Alan Slater reported that the project has received unanimous backing from the Finance Commission, School Committee, Board of Selectmen, and the MSBA. The financial impact to Norwood taxpayers—estimated at $386 annually per average household—is competitive with, and in some cases lower than, the cost of comparable projects in Westwood and Walpole.

Several Town Meeting members highlighted that delaying the project would have led to inflated material and construction costs. Member Katie Button cited the building’s long-term energy efficiency, while General Manager Tony Mazzucco reported projected energy savings of $147,000 annually, totaling $2.94 million over two decades.

“The Middle School Building Committee worked tirelessly to design a future-ready facility,” said Mazzucco. “This new school represents a bold investment in our students and educators, and we are grateful for the continued support from Town Meeting members and the greater Norwood community.”

Funding & Features

The MSBA is contributing up to $45.3 million to the project. Norwood voters approved the remaining share through a debt exclusion in support of the transformation.

Spanning 187,840 square feet across four stories, the new school will serve 1,070 students in grades 5–8. The design emphasizes academic neighborhoods, where students learn in smaller, grade-specific communities. Fifth and sixth graders will occupy the “lower school,” while seventh and eighth grade students attend the “upper school.”

Key facilities include:

A performance technology studio and VR lab for immersive learning.

Natural daylight-oriented classrooms for well-being and energy efficiency.

A shared gymnasium, auditorium, and student commons accessible for community events.

Want to help preserve Norwood’s history? Send your photos of the Coakley Middle School to us at info@norwoodhistoricalsociety.org