Official Project Page

Brookline High School is currently experiencing the initial wave of rapid enrollment growth that will increase the student body from 1,800 students in 2015 to at least 2,600 or more students by 2023. Anticipating this growth, the School Committee, School Department, and Select Board have been moving forward on developing expansion plans.

In February 2015, the Select Board, School Committee, and Advisory Committee all voted to forego partnering with the Massachusetts School Building Authority in order to accelerate this project, create additional design flexibility and reduce total costs of the project. In December 2016, the Building Department, School Committee, and Select Board began the next phase in the project -- the Feasibility Study -- with the appointment of the Building Committee for the Brookline High School Expansion Project. The Feasibility Study will identify the preferred design for the expansion and develop preliminary costs. The Feasibility Study will be conducted by HMFH Architects and be completed in April 2016. Please see Upcoming Public Meetings for scheduled meetings of the BHS Building Committee. Submit questions and comments here.

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Charge of the BHS Building Committee

There shall be established a Building Committee for the Brookline High School Expansion Project. In keeping with recent practice on the Devotion School project, this committee shall be modeled using the MSBA Building Committee guidelines as a starting point. The Committee shall consist of a member of the Building Commission, Select Board and School Committee, each selected by their designated boards, who together shall serve as co-chairs of the Committee. The other members of the Committee shall be as listed below. The Select Board, working with the Town Administrator and staff, shall provide candidates to fill the Park and Recreation Commission representative and the two greater BHS community positions. The Superintendent, working with the Headmaster, shall provide candidates to fill the two parent community representatives, the dean representative and the student representative positions. The slate of members shall be ratified by the Select Board and the School Committee.

  • The Building Committee shall advise and support the Building Commission, Select Board, and School Committee in connection with their authority and responsibilities for the construction and alteration of town buildings and structures under Article 3.7 of the General By-Laws of the Town of Brookline.
  • The Building Committee shall also be the main body responsible for engaging and informing the public on the project.
  • The Building Committee shall work with the Project Manager and consultants in support of the project. The Project Manager shall attend all the meetings of the Building Committee and serve as the Committee’s staff person.
  • The Building Committee shall be concerned with all aspects of the project including budget, schedule, safety, public relations coordination of town agencies, logistics, and contract compliance.

How We Got Here and Other Earlier Work:

Winter/Spring 2016: 

This winter and spring the Brookline High School Expansion Working Group has taken steps to advance the process to expand and renovate BHS. The working group is made up of BHS teachers, staff, coordinators, district administrators, and school committee members.

September 2013: 

The School Committee voted to direct the Superintendent to engage in further study regarding the B-SPACE recommendation to maximize the use, whether by efficiency and/or expansion, of Brookline High School. The charge included beginning a process of analyzing the pedagogical and administrative implications of optimally serving up to 2,500 high school students in Brookline. The recommendation(s) may include new or revamped programs, staffing and administrative structures, and facilities use. The process to develop a plan and educational program for an expansion of high school capacity should include consultation with current BHS faculty and students, the Brookline community, the School Committee, PSB leadership, as well as input from the research on current best practices in curriculum, instruction, and pedagogy for secondary schools. This process is to be led by the Superintendent and Headmaster, and will take into account, but not be limited to, the options presented in the HMFH Architects, Inc. High School Concept Study, the B-Space Committee Report, and the Symmes Maini & McKee Associates (SMMA) study from 2015. For a more information on the space studies that were completed in 2013 and 2015, please see the Brookline town website.