School board set to hear four options for new Beech Street school

Option 3:Edge of the Brook, it the preferred option from SMMA.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) will get a series of potential designs Monday night for the proposed new Beech Street Elementary School.

Beech Street Elementary School’s design process one of the key components of the first phase of the Manchester School District’s facilities plan, which has seen the completion of the district’s transition of all fifth-grade classes to the city’s public middle schools, the closure of Henry Wilson Elementary School, modular classrooms at six schools in the city and a study reviewing options for the city’s public high schools.

The new school is proposed to be placed in a portion of Sheridan-Emmett Park, located across Beech Street from the current school. Monday’s presentation by SMMA, the district’s architectural planning firm for the facilities plan, will review four proposed layouts for the school. The preferred option from SMMA aligns along a historical brook that once ran through the park that includes a 61,300 square foot ground floor footprint, three floors, a 12,000 square foot entry plaza and 23,300 square feet of outdoor recreational space. The new Beech Street Elementary School will host students at the current Beech Street and students from Henry Wilson.

In addition to the Beech Street design proposals, the board will also receive updates on renovations at Hillside and McLaughlin Middle Schools. Construction at the middle schools is expected to begin in Spring of 2025 and construction at Beech Street is expected to begin in Summer of 2025.

UPDATE: The “Edge of the Brook” design was chosen.


The four potential options from SMMA