Frequently Asked Questions

Grades 7 through 12 will be at the new school.

The Belmont School Committee chose a 7 through 12 grade configuration as a comprehensive, district-wide solution to ameliorate overcrowding problems throughout the District. With a 7 through 12 building, Belmont will be able to properly implement its educational vision and will be able to address current enrollment, space, and operations issues. A 7 through 12 school provides a long-term solution for the town. Extensive research and information gathering for the grade configuration decision included:

• Educational Visioning Workshops
• Grade configuration and District-Wide space analysis
• Building Systems Assessment
• Site Constraint Study
• Educational Programming Analysis
• Community Design Workshops
• Enrollment Trend analysis
• Teacher, School Administration and Community Input
• Traffic Pattern and Options Analysis
• Social-Emotional-Learning Analysis
• Environmental and Sustainable Design Study

With lower grades on the Belmont 7 through 12 School campus, careful work will be done to ensure adequate separation between younger and older students. Some strategies that may be employed to achieve this include: physical separation of classroom wings; adjusting school schedules such that older and younger students arrive and depart at different times; and carefully controlling the flow of students through communal areas.

Additionally, there are many exciting educational opportunities that exist when 7th and 8th grades are included on a high school campus. The opportunities for thoughtful educational connections between grades could include mentoring programs and other cross-grade learning opportunities as well as access to shared robotics labs, maker spaces, and other educational areas.

Yes, afterschool will be available for 7th and 8th graders at the school. The School Committee will work with BASEC (Belmont After School Enrichment Collaborative) to determine the needs of the 7th and 8th graders in the 7 through 12 building. Afterschool needs were taken into consideration during the feasibility phase of the project.

The Belmont High School Building Project has received approval from the MSBA to study options for multiple grade configurations: 9 through 12, 8 through 12, and 7 through 12.

Should the Town decide to include lower grades on the Belmont High School campus, careful work will be done to ensure adequate separation between younger and older students. Some strategies that may be employed to achieve this include: physical separation of classroom wings; adjusting school schedules such that older and younger students arrive and depart at different times; and carefully controlling the flow of students through communal areas.

Additionally, there are many exciting educational opportunities that exist when 7th and 8th grades are included on a high school campus. The opportunities for thoughtful educational connections between grades could include mentoring programs and other cross-grade learning opportunities as well as access to a shared robotics lab or maker space. Including lower grades on the new Belmont High School campus would alleviate crowding throughout the district.