Somerville

New academic year kicks off in Somerville with Winter Hill school closed

Students headed back to school on Wednesday in Somerville

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Back to school looks a little different for some students in Somerville, Massachusetts, after their classrooms were unexpectedly closed earlier in the summer.

Students at Winter Hill Community Innovation School are calling a new school building home this academic year, after a piece of concrete fell from the ceiling inside the school back in June. According to the district, the non-structural piece of concrete fell onto a stairwell while the school was unoccupied. The city's building commissioner determined all areas in the school safe, except for that stairwell, which would've had to remain closed.

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The whole school was closed, though, because without the stairwell, there wouldn't have been enough exits in the case of a fire or other emergency.

This year, students in grades 1-8 will be learning instead about a half mile away on Cross Street at the Edgerly Education Center.

In a written statement that went out to parents on Friday, Somerville school district says it has cancelled the last three days of the summer program to also lessen the disruption caused by the construction work currently underway at the Edgerly Education Center.

District officials said in order to get this building ready, they had to do improvements to the roofing and masonry to keep the building watertight.

In fact, not too long ago, asbestos was found in the building's window caulking. It was non-friable, though, meaning it's not necessarily a health risk.

Parents, students and administrators are adjusting after the closure of the Winter Hill Community School, which was deemed unsafe.

Still, concerns were raised by parents, and summer programming at the Edgerly was called off early, allowing the construction work on the building to advance more quickly.

Parents, and even the Somerville mayor, were able to tour the school this week and so far, there have been no glaring concerns.

It should also be noted that Somerville school leaders say there will be a shuttle bus for some students from Winter Hill to their new location.

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