East Longmeadow High School is a publichigh school located in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only secondary school (high school) in the East Longmeadow School District. It enrolls 833 students. On November 7, 2023, the residents of East Longmeadow voted in favor of a debt exclusion which will allocate funds to build a brand new high school and pool. The project is expected to begin in summer of 2024, with the goal of the new building being ready for the 2026-2027 school year.
History
After a strenuous process, the plans for a high school building to be constructed at 180 Maple Street (previously farmland) were approved by the voters. Ground was broken on the construction of a building to house the town's growing student body on April 28, 1959. Following one year's construction and several finishing touches, East Longmeadow High School first opened its doors to students on September 13, 1961, graduating its first class in the summer of 1962. Prior to an addition to the existing building in 1965, only one class had attended the school for all four years (Class of 1964). This was due to accommodation issues due to sizing. Ninth graders continued to attend Birchland Park Middle School until the addition was complete. As of June 2023, 12,762 students have graduated from the original school building. The largest number of graduates to date was 298 in the class of 1974.
Principals
There have been seven principals of East Longmeadow High School. Their names and years of service are provided below:
Mr. Elwin J. Doubleday, 1960-1963 (died 2004)
Mr. Ralph L. Shindler, 1963-1979 (died 2014)
Mr. Peter J. Cannone, Jr., 1979-1987 (died 2020)
Mr. Richard L. Freccero, 1987-2010
Mr. Michael E. Knybel, 2010-2011
Dr. Gina E. Flanagan, 2011-2020
Mr. Frank R. Paige, 2020-present.
New school building
From 2014-2019, the East Longmeadow School Committee submitted Statements of Interest for grant funding through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to build a new school building. The old building has been experiencing severe deterioration of mechanical systems along with constant roof leaks. The district was accepted into the core program in 2019. A feasibility study was completed which recommended a complete demolition of the old building and reconstruction of a new school building. The Town of East Longmeadow held a special election on November 7, 2023 with 2 questions on the ballot. Question 1 asked voters to approve funding for a new school building through a proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion, and Question 2 asked voters to approve funding for a new pool which will be attached to the high school. The town voted strongly to approve both the school and pool projects with 3,577 (68.9%) voting yes and 1,617 (31.1%) voting no for the school and 3,219 (62.3%) voting yes and 1,948 (37.7%) voting no for the pool. The budget for the school project was set at $177,500,000 while the pool project budget is set at $16,910,000. Construction will begin in summer of 2024 with the new building being open for the 2026-2027 school year. The project will ultimately be completed sometime in 2027.
East Longmeadow High School shortly after it opened.
