Families packed the new Fitzgerald Elementary School for a glimpse of the multimillion-dollar building during last night's open house.
Principal Alice Shull greeted parents and children as they entered. Many marveled at the school's bright colors, new computers and well-lit hallways.
"Everyone is just really excited about coming to the new building. We've had an incredible turnout," she said. "We've given out almost 300 handouts about the new school. People are so enthusiastic."
Construction cost approximately $19 million. The final price tag of about $24 million included demolition of the old building, site preparation, furniture, equipment, technology, construction management, architecture and other management costs.
On the second floor of the Beal Road building, the school's gymnasium was already getting use last night, with children running on sparkling wooden floors under basketball nets. Nearby, unshelved books were stacked in the library next to new Dell computers.
Technology teacher Judy Crimlisk stood in her new computer lab. She spent the last two years teaching at Fitch School on Ash Street, where Fitzgerald students were temporarily sent until the opening of the new school.
"The Fitch School was a beautiful building but this is very exciting," she said. "At the Fitch School the computers didn't work so well."
Last night Peter Azar walked the halls of the school on his third day as superintendent. Azar said he's already visited the school five times in the last two weeks while preparing for the school year.
"We wanted to open the school as soon as we could to have teachers be able to set up their classrooms," he said. "The school is in remarkable shape for the teachers only being here for a couple of days ... the other thing clearly on everyone's mind is the merging of the two schools."
On Sept. 3 students from the former Bright Elementary School will join Fitzgerald students at the new building.
Former Bright Elementary School PTO President Ethel Williams has teamed with Fitzgerald co-presidents Diane Thompson and Christine Iannuzzo, to help lead the PTO this year and bring families from both communities together.
"We've actually been having joint meetings for the last couple of months," Williams said. "We all have a lot of plans and a lot of ideas to get the two communities together to feel like one happy family."
State Rep. Thomas Stanley's son Parker is starting kindergarten at the school this year. Last night, Stanley, who is also a city councilor, attended the open house with his wife and son.
"It's a wonderful, brand-new building in a great community," he said. "As a state representative and a city councilor, we worked hard to revamp the School Building Assistance Program and the city of Waltham received nearly $140 million in state funding for our new schools. I'm very proud to have played a role in that."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
