Montrose School opens Tuesday

Montrose School is set to receive a $6 million bond, facilitated by MassDevelopment, for their new school in Medfield.

 Montrose is scheduled to begin classes at their new Medfield campus Jan. 23, will use the majority of the bonds for refinancing of their primary academic building. Additionally, they will use the resources for the renovation of an adjacent building for a new academic, performing arts and assembly hall building.

 After traveling from site to site since their founding in 1979, Montrose will be residing in the property once owned by Bayer Laboratories. The all-girl Catholic school prepares young women between sixth and 12^th grade for college.

 MassDevelopment is a financing company based out of Boston. They work toward strengthening communities, and in 2005 financed $1.9 billion in new buildings and renewing facilities for their customers from small manufacturers to universities.

 Karen Bohlin, Director of the Montrose School, said MassDevelopment is “a wonderful organization… they really advocate for not-for-profit organizations.”

 Bohlin said she expects most of the construction work to be completed by the time the girls arrive on Tuesday. There will be a small amount of work and touch-ups performed on weekends after the students arrive, said Bohlin, but no construction will occur while students are present.

 Although construction on the main academic building should be largely complete when students arrive, additional work on the landscape and a playing field will continue. Demolition and construction vehicles show that work has begun on the fields.

 The next phase will be the completion of the playing field as well as the performing arts and assembly hall building. Montrose School will use a connected building for their future development.

 As the school looks to the future, they plan to create a gymnasium on their 13.5-acre plot of land. Bohlin hopes the gym will be completed sometime next year, while they plan on the assembly hall being finished as soon as possible.

 “We want to develop [the school] gradually and wisely,” said Bohlin. She compared the construction of the school to that of a house, in the sense that people don’t usually create a house and immediately begin work on additions.

The theme for the student government is “teamwork”, a fitting title for the work that has occurred on the school, said Bohlin. Montrose School has worked as a team with MassDevelopment and TD Banknorth for this bit of assistance. 

“We’re really fortunate as stewards of the new campus,” said Bohlin.