Private Boarding High School Proposed for Former IBM Site
Photo courtesy of Thompson & Bender
A private boarding high school is being proposed for the 723-acre site that formerly housed IBM in Somers.
The plan being proposed by Evergreen Ridge LLC for property owned by 294 Route 100 LLC was presented at the November 8 Town Board meeting.
The Somers STEM Academy would be in IBM’s five interconnected buildings totaling 1.2 million square feet. The interiors of the existing buildings would be renovated and the proposal calls for the creation of several other facilities, including an arts center, an athletic center, dormitories, a home for the head administrator of the school, several athletic fields, jogging and hiking trails and gardens.
Though the school would be for high school students in grades nine through 12, the school would open in the fall of 2020 with students in grades nine and 10 only.
The school would prepare students for such fields as biomedical engineering and physics, artificial intelligence, computer science and information technology, robotics, aerospace and manufacturing technology. The maximum student enrolment would be 1,800.
The project’s development team consists of 11 companies. At last week’s meeting, Mark Weingarten, an attorney representing the developer, said about 85 percent of the students would live on campus with the rest being day students.
Tim DiScipio, the founder of Evergreen Ridge, said the school would provide instruction in the STEAM subjects of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts. There would be an estimated 750 students on campus in 2020 and the number of students would rise every year until hitting the maximum of 1,800 students in about 2022, he said. There would ultimately be 125 teachers and administrators and a 110-person support staff.
The annual cost for each boarding student would be $49,000 per school year and $37,000 for day students, DiScipio said.
Weingarten said the first step in the approval process would be to have the Town Board declare itself the lead agency for the environmental review of the project.
Supervisor Rick Morrissey asked what the developer was doing to get the state Education Department approval for the school. DiScipio said his company has begun the process of speaking with SED officials to seek accreditation for the school.
DiScipio said about 20 percent of the students would be residents from outside the United States.
Councilman Richard Clinchy asked if the high school would provide programs for students who need special education services. DiScipio said the school would do so. Morrissey asked if the high school would be co-ed. DiScipio said the student population would be a 50-50 ratio of males and females.
A special meeting about the project, which will include the Town Board and other boards, has been scheduled for November 29 at 7 p.m.
