Meridian Grows Into a New Home in Jamaica Plain

Meridian began its life in 2005 with two teachers and ten students in three rooms in a basement. Thanks to the effectiveness of our project-based, interdisciplinary approach and the joy that our community takes in learning and working together, we have grown steadily. After seven gratifying years of expansion in our current space in Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Meridian was clearly in need of a larger building that could support our student body and provide distinctive spaces for our different courses.

Meridian has signed a 10-year lease and is moving into a school building in Jamaica Plain that meets all of the goals that we established when we began our search:

• Larger classrooms to better support student research.
• More meeting spaces and nooks for collaborative efforts.
• Dedicated work spaces where students can set up long-term science, art, and individual research projects.
• Outdoor space on the school grounds and nearby for our physical education classes and free time. 
• A T-accessible home base that is close to the cultural, historical, and natural resources of Boston that we use regularly.
• Proximity to other schools and community organizations with which we can partner. 
• Specialized space for our growing music program.

Our new home is a three-story former Catholic school in Jamaica Plain. The classrooms are double the size of our current ones, and our overall space is three times as large. The faculty is already eagerly rethinking some of our work to better take advantage of the flexibility that these new spaces and new neighborhood partnerships will provide us.

Meridian's growth is due to the enthusiasm of so many students, parents, teachers, trustees, and friends of the school. Our new building will provide the opportunity for long-term planning, investment in our classrooms, and for our student body to reach our planned size of nearly 100 students. That we have reached this moment as we head into our 10th year is particularly fitting. 
We look forward to welcoming all of our friends, new and old, to our new home.