PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — They’re tearing down and starting over.
Next week, demolition is set to begin on Winters Elementary School on Broadway in Pawtucket, before a totally new facility is built for students and educators, set to open in the fall of 2022.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak led schools to send all children home for the foreseeable future, the Winters community had decamped to the former St. Leo’s School, now known as the Pawtucket School Annex, on Central Avenue. The facility had been serving as a “swing school” accommodating students during major renovations at the Potter Burns and Greene elementary schools. The entire district has been tackling upgrades, paid for by city bond referendums.
“We continue to make meaningful investments in our school buildings thanks to the taxpayers,” said the chairman of the school committee, Gerard “Jay” Charbonneau, in a news release Thursday. “We are thrilled for the Winters community.”
Superintendent Dr. Cheryl McWilliams gave thanks to the City Council, school committee, and school department for efforts in making the new school a reality.
“We are a community that values our children,” she said, “committed to ensuring they are educated in 21st-century school buildings that will enhance their learning experience.”
Once finished, the new Winters is expected to provide a state-of-the-art facility covering all the aspects of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics), the city said.
