Nashoba’s new wing a blueprint for other tech schools to follow – Lowell Sun

In the absence of building additional vocational technical high schools, state education officials should prioritize expanding the footprint of existing ones, especially those that cannot meet their demand.

That’s exactly what happened at Nashoba Valley Technical High School.

The Westford district officially opened its new wing on Aug. 22, cutting the ceremonial ribbon on a 7,000-square-foot space that will house programming and web development, engineering technology and robotics programs all under one roof, where students and the staff. members can work collaboratively.

The new wing is located on the east side of campus, adjacent to the Advanced Manufacturing program.

The gathering included state and local officials, district representatives, plus current and former students.

Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Nashoba Tech Superintendent Denise Pigeon told those gathered, “Today feels like the first day of school. It’s so exciting.”

Pigeon said the expansion will allow the school to grow enrollment. Prospective students in the district currently face a waiting list fueled by increased enrollment demand, a factor that is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

This is not a problem unique to Nashoba Tech.

According to the latest state data, in the 2023-2024 school year, the state’s 26 vocational technical high schools received 20,335 applications for 10,305 places in the first year.

Jeffrey Scheminger, Nashoba Tech’s chief technical officer, also acted as project manager for the new wing. He said that when he served as an engineering technology instructor, the program was located at the opposite end of the school from Advanced Manufacturing, a program with which Engineering works closely.

“It always drove me crazy that I had to walk across the building to get to Advanced Manufacturing,” he said, adding that it was not only a long walk, but trying to maneuver two-ton machine parts between the two programs.

During the shutdown caused by COVID-19, school administrators began to come up with the idea of ​​moving the four related programs — Programming and Web, Engineering, Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing — adjacent to each other.

Pigeon said it took a collaborative effort between staff, school board members and officials from the district’s eight member towns — Ayer, Chelmsford, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend and Westford — to complete the project.

And a $3.75 million grant from the state’s Chapter 74 vocational training space expansion program helped finance construction.

That January 2023 award came in the last round of Skills Capital Grants under Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration.

Also, through state workforce grants, Nashoba Tech received an additional $2.5 million to upgrade and expand instructional lab space in the electrical technology and veterinary assisting programs, which will allow a 50 percent increase in enrollment in those programs, as well as a $500,000 grant to replace outdated equipment in its cosmetology program.

The grants will also create an expansion of the school’s vocational training institute for adults.

This new construction project represents the first major addition since Nashoba Tech added two new wings in 2005 as part of a $25 million renovation/expansion.

Superintendent Pigeon said the addition of the new wing freed up space that will now be used to increase space for construction programs, including Electrical Technology, Plumbing and Hearing and Carpentry, as these programs continue to grow in popularity among incoming students.

Pigeon, Scheminger and School Committee Chairman Charlie Ellis praised the work of Littleton-based Triumph Modular, which submitted the winning bid to oversee construction. Ground was broken in April and the wing was completed in just four months.

Pigeon said that with the school year opening on Aug. 28, enrollment was close to 800.

Nashoba Tech opened its doors in 1969 with approximately 250 students.

Scheminger added that the students were able to watch the construction progress, which made it even more special.

Nashoba Tech’s industry partners in using the grant include Insulet Corporation in Acton, TUV Rhineland in Littleton, Keystone Precision & Engineering in Pepperell, TRAK Machine Tools in Boxborough and Red Hat in Westford, as well as the Middlesex 3 Coalition, the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce, the of Commerce North Central Massachusetts, Northeast Advanced Manufacturing Consortium, Mount Wachusett Community College, Middlesex Community College and four MassHire Workforce Councils.

Given the imbalance in the supply of places and those willing to take them, a lottery system remains the only way to ensure a fair admissions process.

But in the long term, more state resources must be allocated to technical high school expansion projects — like the one recently completed at Nashoba Tech.