Cambridge School Committee to Consider Three Options for Kennedy-Longfellow Building

The Cambridge School Committee narrowed their sights on three possible uses for the former Kennedy-Longfellow School building — marking the most concrete step to fill the facility since the district closed it two years ago.

The School Committee was presented with three options on Tuesday, including relocating the Amigos School, creating an early learning center, or merging some of the district’s upper schools to fill the building at 158 Spring St.

The K-Lo building has remained empty since the School Committee voted unanimously to close the building in December 2024 — citing persistent underenrollment at the school, which primarily served high-needs students, including low-income students, students with disabilities, and English language learners.

Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent David G. Murphy described the vacant building as “a really great opportunity to serve students better,” pointing to its size, amenities, and location in an area with a high concentration of Cambridge Public School students.

Murphy said last year that he hoped the building would open for the 2026-27 school year, but confirmed that the building would reopen by the fall of 2027 at the latest.

The three proposals could reshape multiple parts of the district, including its dual-language programming, preschool system, and upper school structure. CPS officials said the district is evaluating the options based on their potential to improve academic outcomes, meet enrollment demands, support high-needs students, and use the Spring Street building efficiently.

CPS has committed to maintaining an elementary school presence in East Cambridge, where a large concentration of district students live, according to Murphy’s Tuesday presentation.

Murphy said that relocating the Amigos School, the district’s Spanish-English dual-language school, would allow for higher enrollment at one of the district’s highest-performing and most in-demand schools, to enroll more students. The Amigos School currently holds around 420 students, but the K-Lo facility can accommodate more than 650.

The K-Lo building would also give Amigos students access to facilities that are not available at its current building — including an outdoor field, science laboratory, larger gymnasium, auditorium, and additional space for special education services.

But the move would disrupt current families and staff, alter students’ routines, and require the district to determine another use for the Upton Street property. Murphy also acknowledged that expanding Amigos could take several years because of language requirements in the upper elementary and middle grades.

A second proposal would turn the building into an early learning center serving 3- and 4-year-olds. The center could bring preschool classrooms, evaluations, special education services, and other family supports together in one location, Murphy said.

The proposal comes as enrollment patterns in the Cambridge Preschool Program continue to shift. The number of families selecting CPS as their first choice for 4-year-olds has fallen by 25 percent, while the number of families doing so for 3-year-olds has increased by 37 percent, according to the district.

The third option would merge some of Cambridge’s four upper schools and place one of the resulting schools at 158 Spring St.

Murphy said larger upper schools could offer more electives, extracurricular activities, and specialized programming. The change could also reduce the district’s reliance on teachers who are the sole instructors in their subjects and make more specialized programs and services available to high-needs students in one location.

But the presentation cautioned that a merger could cause significant disruption without resolving the enrollment and feeder-pattern problems facing Cambridge’s upper schools. Murphy said any significant attempt to address upper school enrollment could require the district to reassess and potentially redesign its secondary feeder pattern in his Tuesday presentation.

Murphy called the district’s current upper-school model “extremely fragile.”

“We are, every single summer, one student away from a ripple effect that causes significant logistical and financial implications,” Murphy said.

Committee member Richard Harding Jr. cautioned CPS against minimizing the condition of the building after facility concerns contributed to the earlier decision to close K-Lo.

“That building needs to be fixed up for real,” Harding said. “I just don’t think, in the spirit of transparency, we can play it both ways.”

The district will hold three community forums later this month before the School Committee weighs the issue again during their Oct. 6 and 20 meetings.

But School Committee member Elizabeth C.P. Hudson sharply criticized the timeline on Tuesday, noting that registration for the 2027-28 Cambridge Preschool Program lottery opens Oct. 1 — and the future of the K-Lo building could alter families’ considerations after they’ve already formalized their decisions.

“I’m ashamed that we are having this conversation now,” Hudson said. “There will be a family that says, ‘I made a decision and I didn’t understand what was happening.’”

CPS will hold an in-person forum at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School on Sept. 29, a virtual forum on Sept. 30, and another in-person forum at the Amigos School on Oct. 1. Murphy said implementation of the final proposal will depend on the schedule for capital improvements at the Spring Street building, but is expected no later than August 2028.

—Staff writer Tess E. Sumner can be reached at [email protected].