For years, Gloucester has been talking about and brainstorming ideas to renovate the O’Maley Courtyard.

This .8 acres concrete plaza has looked more or less the same since O’Maley opened in the mid-1970s, and has never been a particularly functional space for students or staff. Kids refer to it as a “prison yard”, and staff and families have voiced for decades that it isn’t just unattractive; it is negatively affecting the community’s perception of O’Maley. It is, however, heavily utilized. It serves as the arrival and dismissal area, the “playground” for recess, and as an uncomfortable (too sunny, too windy, not enough seating or shade) space for the occasional outdoor class. Despite valiant efforts by the city, parent groups, and volunteers to improve the courtyard over many years, it has remained a sore spot.

Knowing how badly the space needs an upgrade, and understanding what a significant impact a renovated courtyard could have on every O’Maley student and staff member, every day, GEF began an exploration process in spring 2025. This phase included:

• reviewing past efforts to transform the space, including drawings by local landscape architect Kaye-Lynn Shoucair;

• meeting with City officials to get their support for exploring the idea;

• creating, disemminating, and anlyzing responses to student and staff surveys;

• running focus groups with students, staff and administrators at O’Maley; and

• hiring a GPS alumna, Aurelia Harrison, to support this work as a GEF summer intern.

We moved into a formal feasibility study in July 2025, contracting with Agency Landscape + Planning to:

• conduct a preliminary site investigation;

• develop three initial conceptual options;

• run workshops with stakeholders to get feedback on the draft concepts;

• meet with DPW leadership to understand maintenance and upkeep needs;

• refine the drafts into one, coherent concept; and

• work with a cost estimator to determine costs and potential phasing.