Lynch 1960 to Present

a Junior High School to start

At approximately 83,650 square feet, Lynch was originally designed as Winchester’s junior high school, completed in 1961; its spaces poorly accommodate the needs of today’s elementary education. Many of the architectural elements and engineering systems of the period, such as steel-framed single pane windows and sectional cast iron boiler, are original to the building, inefficient and failing.

Similar to Winchester’s other four elementary schools, Lynch serves-- and will continue to serve-- as a neighborhood school. The current facility is a sprawling, largely single-story steel frame and masonry-clad building on a large site with numerous playfields at a lower elevation supporting youth sports. Much of the site falls within the 100-year floodplain and faces numerous development restrictions.

Although most of Winchester’s elementary schools serve grades K-5, the Lynch School has for generations been home to the district’s integrated preschool program, with up to six classrooms supporting nine distinct sections of morning and all-day programs. Due to rising enrollment, the district moved two of these Pre-K classrooms to the Vinson-Owen School for the 2017-18 school year and for Fall 2021, the district relocated the remaining Pre-K program at Lynch to the Parkhurst School (underutilized for administration only) to accommodate continued growth.

Current Program & Space Issues

The Lynch Elementary School includes approximately 21 K-5 core classroom spaces of varying size, ranging from 800 sf – 1,200 sf, many of which are undersized compared to MSBA standards. Increased enrollment has resulted in the integrated Pre-K program being split between two sites (Vinson-Owen and Parkhurst) and all available instructional spaces converted into classroom spaces, which has led to a space constraints for special education, small-group and individualized meeting/support, reduced space for library/media and technology, and no available space to add additional classrooms.