Atlantis Adding Third Wing to Campus

Image courtesy of Vanguard Modular Building Systems

Atlantis is adding classroom space. The school broke ground on a new, 20,000 square foot building that, when complete, will provide an additional 18-19 classrooms and some administrative space.

Like the school’s gymnasium complex, the new building will be constructed using permanent modular construction. This means it will have a standard foundation, but the walls and ceilings will be pre-assembled off-site and brought to the campus for installation, like a giant Lego set. The new building will be located across the parking lot from the Lower School entrance.

School administrators began planning for this third wing last fall—at first because of mandatory spacing requirements related to the pandemic. To accommodate those requirements last year, Atlantis rented classroom space in downtown Fall River for some of its high school students to provide adequate social distancing.

“We initiated this project in the event we ever had to space kids out again, but we also had longer-term goals related to pandemic recovery,” said Robert Beatty, executive director of Atlantis. “Students are returning to school with a variety of academic and social-emotional needs. This additional classroom space will help us better tend to those needs by allowing more small-group and social/emotional support spaces, among other benefits.”

Students across the country fell behind in school during the pandemic. In fact, in a recent study by Horace Mann, more than half of K-12 public school teachers reported significant learning loss for students, both academically and social-emotionally.

“This plan came about as an emergency measure in response to the COVID-19 crisis, but it is a resource that will serve our students and families well into the future,” Beatty said.

Students and families arriving on campus may notice some large machinery, but there should be no major impact on traffic. The construction is expected to be complete by early 2022.