Overcrowding is one of the main issues with the existing Andover High School facility. (See more information here.) A solution to address both current and future enrollment is a goal of the AHS building project.
A key component in achieving this objective begins with determining a proper design enrollment for the project to meet space capacities and future growth.
A demographer performed an examination of the town and district in 2017 and a design enrollment of 1,900 students was recommended based on their analysis which considered: mortgage rates, housing developments/developable land, birth rates, housing turnover, mobility rates, etc. Considering the impacts of COVID, the AHS Building Committee again engaged Cropper GIS in 2022 to verify their prior analysis and produce an updated report of the Town’s past and future population demographics. Cropper maintained their prior recommendation of a 1,900 student design enrollment for a building with a minimum life expectancy of 50 years.
This figure is used as the foundation of the educational plan created by Andover Public Schools, which then guides the development of a space summary plan in accordance with MSBA Feasibility Study procedures. The AHS project team and Town are currently in the process of generating the space summary plan to quantify required spaces (size and count) within the proposed building.
The space summary template use by the MSBA and for the AHS project considers the 1,900 student enrollment and factors in an 85% utilization rate. This allows flexibility in that space cannot always be scheduled to take advantage of every seat in every class, and also means a new building will not open at its maximum capacity, allowing for progressive and future growth.