In issuing an RFP in the spring of 2024, the City of Lynn was seeking to acquire multi-purpose space, including for the relocation of Lynn Public Schools administration from Bennett Street. That would serve to create additional space for the growing pre-K program on Bennett Street, as well as bringing the Frederick Douglass Collegiate Academy to Market Street from the campus of North Shore Community College, where it had been located since opening in 2022.
Missions accomplished: Frederick Douglass Collegiate Academy opened this year with 446 students, almost twice as many as 2024-25. The projected enrollment for 2026-27 is 625. Relocating to 195 Market Street not only allowed for expansion, but saved the City money in lease payments to run the program out of district.
Moving school administration to Market Street resulted in the addition of pre-K seats at Bennett Street, part of an overall increase of 118 seats (23 percent) across the district in 2025. Lynn Public Schools also increased the number of full-day slots by more than double, from 171 in 2023-24 to 409 in 2024-25…