Quincy High prepares for opening

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

The floors have been cleaned, the desks set into perfect rows, the smart boards prepped and at the ready. After years of planning and months of construction, Quincy High School is finally being unveiled to the public on Sunday.

“There are many people excited about the opening,” said Frank Santoro, the principal of Quincy High. “It's a dream come true, many years in planning, and we've designed a high school with the newest technology. It's also interdisciplinary, so teachers can show students a multitude of subjects.”

Split into three main sections, the $126 million school itself is massive, housing a science, mathematics and technology wing; an arts wing; and a humanities wing. In addition, all vocational classes and labs are mixed with the general classes for each section, combining together a school that, in recent memory, was very separate.

According to City Solicitor for Quincy Jim Timmias, Santoro was the first to refer to the vocational school and the regular high school as one, calling the two original buildings "east" and "west" campuses.

But those days are gone. Replacing it is a building that will enable students to see the practical aspects of their general classes by putting vocational labs across from the subjects that accompany them, Santoro said.

In addition, the school is also one of the many new “green” schools of Massachusetts, with solar panels for heating, skylights throughout the building, and lights strategically placed to optimize minimal lighting, Santoro said.

“[The greening] is incredibly important for now and for the future. We've had this focus right from the beginning,” said Richard DeCristofaro, the superintendent for Quincy schools. “It has short-term as well as long-term benefits.”

For DeCristofaro, the school is not only great for the students, but also for the surrounding community.

“The community reaction has been incredibly positive and even more positive as time goes by. There is a pride. I think it changes the whole culture, not only of the high school, but also of the community,” he said.

Highlighting the school's diversity are the flags that hang over the main stairwell representing the 75 countries from which the staff and students hail [below].

The opening ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the hallway between the cafeteria and the auditorium.

After a brief ribbon cutting ceremony by Mayor Thomas Koch, the public will file into the auditorium to be given a virtual tour by Santoro via PowerPoint. After that, people will be free to wander the many rooms and labs throughout the school.

Also in attendence will be DeCristofaro, Tim Cahill, the Massachusetts treasurer; Katherine Craven, executive director for the Massachusetts School Building Authority: and State Representative Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat.

Click here to view a diagram of the new school.