On October 25, 2025 the Town of Arlington officially celebrated the completion of the new Arlington High School (AHS), located at 869 Massachusetts Avenue. The new 408,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility serves approximately 1,700 students and will serve as a catalyst for generations of learners, plus it is the home of Menotomy Preschool and Arlington Community Education. The new high school is also a gathering place in the center of Town, where the community can attend performances and cultural events in the new auditorium and theater and watch, or participate, in sporting events at the new athletic fields and gymnasium.

“The completion of this brand new beautiful high school is an extraordinary accomplishment. I want to begin by thanking the community of Arlington for actively participating in the process of designing and financing this new school,” said Jeff Thielman, Chair of the Arlington High School Building Committee. “I also want to recognize the great work of our High School Building Committee and the support of the MSBA who provided funding and technical guidance that made it possible for the Town to build this new school.”

Events to commemorate the project’s completion included a plaque unveiling and ribbon-cutting ceremony in the morning and a public open house in the afternoon. The ribbon-cutting ceremony included State, Town, and School officials. Recognized at the ceremony were former Superintendent of Arlington Public Schools, Dr. Kathleen Bodie and, posthumously, AHS Building Committee member Brian Rehrig. The School Committee honored their work on the project by naming the new lecture space, the Dr. Kathleen Bodie Discourse Lab, while the new black box theater will be dedicated to Mr. Rehrig. Later in the day the public open house welcomed over a thousand visitors who took the time on a brisk fall day to explore the new facility.

“The Arlington community’s steadfast support of, and belief in, public education made this possible," remarked Dr. Elizabeth Homan, Superintendent of the Arlington Public Schools. “This new high school represents not only years of planning, collaboration, and construction, but the shared hopes and dreams of this community. From initial discussions and designs a decade ago to the 2019 debt exclusion vote and through five years of construction, AHS truly embodies what it means to prepare students for a rapidly changing world in a way that brings people together.”

In 2019 Arlington voters approved a debt exclusion vote of $205.7 million to move forward with a new high school budgeted at $290.4 million. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will fund approximately $84.7 million. The project is currently projected to come in roughly $450,000 under budget. A final tally will be known when the project is fully closed out over the next few months.

“Our project partners really delivered. We came in on time and under budget, which is no small feat on such a complex project where construction coincided with a global pandemic,” said Jim Feeney, Arlington’s Town Manager. “What may have seemed like a pipe dream a decade ago, this all-electric building is now a model in sustainability for the Arlington community and beyond, demonstrating, again that when the community comes together for a common cause it can reshape the future of the Town for the better.”

Climate change mitigation was a priority in the design of the new high school. The project includes energy-efficient and fossil fuel-free mechanical systems, rooftop and canopy solar arrays that will offset approximately 30% of the building's energy use, and construction materials that minimize embodied carbon. With the completion of the school the Town is now closer to the community's goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Project partners for the new high school include the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), Owner’s Project Manager Skanska USA, designer HMFH Architects and Construction Manager Consigli USA. For more information, visit www.ahsbuilding.org.

 

Above: AHS principal Dr. Matthew Janger  (center left) and AHS Senior Class President, Dagim Macindoe (center right) hold the scissors ready to cut the ribbon to commemorate the completion of the new Arlington High School with State, Town, and School officials. From left to right: Diane Mahon (Select Board, Chair), Jim Feeney (Town Manager), Senator Cindy Friedman (Fourth Middlesex), Dr. Matthew Janger (AHS principal), Mary Pichetti (Deputy Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director of Massachusetts School Building Authority), Dagim Macindoe (AHS senior class president), Rep. Sean Garballey (23rd Middlesex County), Jeff Thielman (AHS Building Committee, Chair and School Committee), Dr. Elizabeth Homan (Superintendent of Arlington Public Schools).  – David Fox Photography

Above: AHS Building Committee and School Committee members past and present pose by  the school's new plaque, which dedicates the building to the town's students, teachers and staff, and gives thanks the Arlington community for their support of the project. From left to right: William Hayner (former School Committee), Dr. Shannon Knuth (AHS Building Committee and AHS Teacher), Sandy Pooler (former Town Manager and Deputy Town Manager | Finance Director), Dr. Kirsi Allison-Ampe (AHS Building Committee and School Committee), Paul Schlichtman (School Committee), Amy Speare (AHS Building Committee), Len Kardon (School Committee), Francis Callahan (AHS Building Committee), Brett Lambert (AHS Building Committee), Cindy Starks (former School Committee), Jeff Thielman (AHS Building Committee Chair and School Committee), Dr. Elizabeth Homan (APS Superintendent, AHS Building Committee, Co-chair), Dr. Kathleen Bodie (former APS Superintendent), Kate Loosian (AHS Building Committee), Dr. Matthew Janger (AHS principal), Liz Exton (School Committee), Tobey Jackson (AHS Building Committee), Laura Gitelson (School Committee), Ryan Katofsky (AHS Building Committee), John Cole (AHS Building Committee), Judson Pierce (AHS Building Committee), Jim Feeney (Town Manager), Bill McCarthy (AHS Vice Principal), Michael Mason (former APS Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations) - David Fox Photography 

Above: AHS Principal Dr. Matthew Janger, APS Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Homan, and former APS Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Bodie – David Fox Photography

Above: Attendees at the Oct 25, 2025 open house view panels highlighting the completed High School. - Photo Town of Arlington