Page 38 - BusinessWest September 30, 2024

puses where students attend classes. But after the initial visit, 1350 Main
St. emerged as a “dream location,” one that married easy access to the school’s college partners with a space that could be tailored to Discovery’s programs and provide proximity to, and connections with, downtown businesses and cultur- al institutions.
“The real innovation here was the city as a campus,” said Kelly Gangi, chief of School Innovation for Discov- ery High. “The location here, more than any other, provided students with this very unique opportunity to have access to all the assets in the city.”
“It’s very much like working in a company, and I think that’s going to translate.”
different in that they look and feel more like class-A office space (which, again, this was) than a traditional school.
There’s also the opportunity to be more independent than in a traditional school setting — from taking a PVTA bus to being out in the downtown.
“The other day, Kelly and I were coming back from Starbucks and encountered some students walking in the other direction,” O’Connor recalled. “I said ‘where are you going?’ They said, ‘we’re going to Big Y ... we have 12 minutes before school starts.’”
Such episodes help explain why the
site offers much more than views out
its many windows, said those we spoke
38 SEPTEMBER 30, 2024
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Setting the Stage
BusinessWest visited Discovery High mid-morning on a Thursday, which meant it was relatively quiet.
The sophomores, juniors, and the first batch of seniors — as well as some freshmen — were attending early-col- lege classes at several different schools, including Springfield Technical Com-
munity College, Western New England University, and Quinsigamond Commu- nity College in Worcester. Most of the students who weren’t on the road were in class.
But it was still easy to see the many opportunities this site affords those attending the school. The accommoda- tions, as noted, are both modern and
with, noting that being downtown pro-
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wasn’t possible in their corner of Chest- nut Middle School. And also a chance
to maybe ... well, gain some m..
the process.
“One might think that students can’t
handle a school that’s all glass — that they might be goofy with each other and be distracted by one another,” O’Connor said. “They’ve just settled into it because this whole experience is trusting them, as young adults, to exist in a space that they absolutely belong
in. “They’re learning how to move through the building, get on elevators and interact with adult professionals, ride the elevator up and enter a space and move through that space in ways that they are trusted to handle,” he went on. “It’s very much like working in a company, and I think that’s going to translate.”
And while this new downtown loca- tion is pioneering from an education perspective, the same is true when
it comes to adoptive reuse of class-A office space, said Plotkin, noting that he hasn’t seen or heard of many — or even any — conversions like this one.
As he said, Discovery High might
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