New E.R. Martin Middle School to Open December 1st

The voter approved $148M reconstruction of the “new” Edward R. Martin Middle School is nearing completion and will open for students and staff on December 1, 2025.  To date, the extensive project is on budget with the hope by the building committee that a surplus will remain after final completion.  Close to 80% of voters in 2022 approved the issuance of bonds to rehabilitate Martin and parts of Waddington Elementary School in Riverside.  Martin has been a troublesome physical plant since it opened in December of 1977.  The school was still going by its original name, Central Junior High School, at the time it first opened. The main problem was the so called “innovative open classroom” concept in which the “new” Central Junior High was built.  A group of educators and others visited a similar concept school in Plymouth Carver, Massachusetts.  The group came back with a recommendation that East Providence’s new and largest junior high, should follow the open classroom concept. This meant classrooms without walls, doors or windows for the most part.  Students would have to walk through other classrooms in session, when going to the bathroom, nurse or leaving class in general.  Louder teachers taught next to softer-voiced colleagues.  There were distractions no matter how staff tried to mitigate the situation. 

1977 Controversial Construction

The building also had a problematic construction with many accusations being tossed between school committee, city council, contractors and many in the public.  In fact, many thought that the $7.4M school should not have been accepted by city officials until some of the alleged deficiencies were corrected.  According to documents at that time, there were serious concerns all around.  Then School Committee Chairman James Kanelos was a loud critic.  Kanelos complained that there were “roof leaks in several classrooms and water is seen trickling out from floor tiles.”  Kanelos also cited inconsistent heat, with some rooms hot while others were cold.  He cited the fact that gym equipment was stored in boxes not ready for use.  He complained that auditorium seats were not yet installed, and the library was “just an empty shell.”  At one point then Chairman Kanelos and school committee vice-chair Robert Rodericks toured the building with a Providence Journal reporter and photographer before the school opened.  The four were ordered out of the building by a worker who said he had instructions from the contractor.  The group was told to leave, or the police would be called to evict them.  “I’ll have you know that I am the chairman of the School Committee and I’m here to inspect the building to decide on how to vote on accepting the school or not,” said Kanelos.  “I don’t care who you are, leave or I’m calling the cops,” replied the worker.  Kanelos and Rodericks continued their tour, and the police did not appear.

Other defects were pointed out.  Water on the gym floor had uprooted some of the parquet tiles.  Drapes in some areas came loose from crumbled concrete.  The auditorium didn’t have a planned projection booth and the cafeteria only had warming stations but not a working kitchen.  Access to sewer lines was blocked in one corridor by a wall of tile and large windows.  “You have no access there said a worker.”  There were many other issues listed on a “punch list” of items to be corrected and the school could not open in September as hoped.  The list of concerns was worked on and the large school opened to some 1500 students in December 1977.  That’s the short version of the story.

A New School, New Name and New Concept

Although it was an auspicious start and without every construction issue resolved, the sprawling Junior High serving center city, Kent Heights and Rumford, opened and was still impressive to many.  Legal battles ensued and there were some settlements ordered by arbitrations.  The company building the school no longer exists. The school committee debated a name change.  Geographical names like the site’s namesake, Rose Garden, were considered as were others like Wampanoag, Watchemoket, etc.  In the end the school was named after its soon-retiring Superintendent of Schools, Edward R. Martin.  Martin was the dean of school superintendents nationwide.  He was superintendent for a record 27 consecutive years and a teacher, coach, and principal in the system for over 40 years.  Martin was intelligent, tough but fair with staff and very politically astute.  He successfully dealt with over 30 years of various elected and appointed officials and left on his own terms.  The only blight on his long career may have been the concept planning of the very school that would bear his name.

The Concept

The new educational program was designed as a four-house concept.  Each house was a school within a school.  There was a house leader, guidance counselor, reading specialist – all intended to work with smaller groups of students.  Each house provided basics of Science, Math, Social Studies and English.  Each “House” initially had 375 students, making four schools within a school.  Teacher teams were assigned to each house.  A core area, outside of the houses, would service the entire school, to include a media center, music, cafeteria, gymnasium, unified arts center for home economics, industrial arts and arts & crafts.  The academics and career curriculum were all well planned and effective.  The problem?  Classrooms without walls and doors didn’t work well.  Eventually the district had to construct walls and petitions but egress through the rooms still existed.  Other physical problems continued to be less than ideal for students and teachers.  These rooms mostly had no windows.  The core area with its large auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, shops, etc. were acceptable but the overall open classroom model was not a good idea.

Back to the Future – Tradition Returns

In November 2022 East Providence voters overwhelmingly approved a $148 million bond issue to rehab Martin and also correct some similar problems at Waddington Elementary school in Riverside.  Although most of Waddington was a well-built traditional classroom building, an addition did have the open classroom concept.  This bond issue would also address that.  The high school bonding realized the city a reimbursement rate of  54.5% and some incentives earning close to 74.5%.  The state has now allowed reimbursement rate of 48.5% which may increase with incentives from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) curriculum, and some environmental and Disabilities Act compliance.

Most of Martin is being replaced, including all of the open classrooms.  This hybrid approach to construction was planned with keeping what worked and replacing what didn’t.  The remaining areas of Martin include the large and small gymnasiums, band and chorus rooms and the auditorium.  While remaining in place, these areas have received significant improvements.  Acoustics, sound wiring, HVAC, etc., are all being replaced or have been improved.  According to the Martin/Waddington building committee chairman, Manuel Vinhateiro, the old “House Concept” is now gone.  “Each grade will be housed on its own floor. Grade six on floor one, seven on floor two and 8^th graders on floor three.  All new office area, security, nurse station, HVAC are 100% new,” said Vinhateiro.  “Even the gym and auditorium will have all new rooftop (HVAC) systems.  The new cafeteria will have full cooking capabilities, unlike the original,” added Vinhateiro, a former high school principal and superintendent in the district. 

Total Completion in September

The entirety of the massive rehabilitation project will see final completion in September.  Once students and staff have moved in on December 1^st, the final phase to include demolition of the old school will commence immediately. “It will take a few weeks to complete interior demolition of the old; water, sewer, HVAC, etc,” said Vinhateiro.  Landscaping will also be finished, and the site has been cleared of any contamination risks.  Crew came across contaminated debris during the construction period through the summer.  “Things like tires, possible farmland chemicals, refuse were all safely removed under the auspices of the RI Department of Environmental Management.  We even found remnants of an old car buried there,” said Vinhateiro.  Construction experts explain that projects of this size, especially on or near former farms or landfills will uncover all kinds of debris and objects.  A small area of contaminated soil was safely buried and capped away from the school and the larger amount was removed under D.E.M. supervision.

Waddington & Riverside Middle School

Waddington school is also significantly improved wit some remaining drainage work to be completed.  Waddington received renovations funded by the $148M bonding while Riverside improvements came from alternative sources of Rhode Island Department of Education grants.  Riverside Middle received all new windows, new science department improvements, a new library/media center and other improvements.  “All in all, East Providence school buildings are in great shape and should be for quite a while,” added Vinhateiro.  “We recognize that vigilance must continue to keep it this way.”

The members of the building committee have met and will continue to do so monthly and more frequently when needed.  Committee members are: Stephen Amoroso, Jessica Beauchaine, Tom Brun, Danny Carpenter, Anthony Ferreira, Dr. Sandra Forand, Alexandra Gonzalez, John Iemma, Laurie Marchand, Patrick McDonald, Karen Moore, Karen Rebello, John Rezendes, Robert Rodericks, Alfred Villeneuve and Manuel Vinhateiro.     

(Editor’s note: Reporter columnist Bob Rodericks had been just elected to the school board in 1976)