Northshore Phoenix High School moves to 10,744 s/f at Cummings Center

Beverly, MA Northshore Education Consortium (NEC) has relocated its Northshore Phoenix High School (NPHS) from 112 Sohier Rd. to 100 Cummings Center. The specialized recovery high school now occupies 10,744 s/f of custom-built educational, therapeutic, and administrative space.

Founded in 1975, NEC provides intensive special education services to children and youths with emotional, behavioral, and developmental challenges across 20 North Shore school districts. The organization also operates NPHS, formerly known as Northshore Recovery High School, which serves students aged 14 to 21 whose lives have been affected by substance use.

The project involved a renovation, including electrical and HVAC upgrades, specialized life safety features, and modifications to the layout, plumbing, entryways, and finishes. Cummings Properties delivered the completed facility ahead of schedule, just in time for NEC to start the school year at Cummings Center.

“We appreciate our in-house design and construction teams’ significant efforts to quickly meet the large, complex requirement of Northshore Education Consortium,” said Cummings Properties vice president Stephanie Aitchison. “We’re delighted we could provide a space tailored to the school’s needs and deliver it in time for the start of the academic year, avoiding the disruption of a mid-year move.”

According to Aitchison, the accelerated schedule benefits NEC beyond the Phoenix program. “The expedited relocation allows NEC to move ahead with plans to put the school’s former facility to productive use for programs serving its other students,” said Aitchison.

NEC has a longstanding relationship with both the real estate and philanthropic organizations within the Cummings network. Cummings Center previously provided temporary space for NEC and the recovery high school while renovations were underway at the Sohier Rd. facility in 2020. Friends of the Northshore Education Consortium, NEC’s nonprofit arm, is also a Cummings Foundation grant recipient.

Other schools and educational, individual, and family service organizations in Cummings Properties’ Beverly portfolio include Montessori Kids Universe, Bright Horizons Early Education and Preschool, Magical Beginnings Learning Center, Aspire Learning Center, BCI Learning Center, Communitas, NEEDS Center, and the Morgan Memorial Goodwill North Shore Training Center.

At Cummings Center, NEC joins a diverse multi-use campus accommodating businesses of all industries as well an array of service providers and amenities, such as the USPS, salons, medical providers, Pressed Cafe and Regina Pizzeria, and daycare centers for children, adults, and dogs.

Cummings Properties’ Beverly portfolio includes Cummings Center, the North Shore’s largest office and research park, and Dunham Ridge, a 54-acre business, science, and technology center abutting Rte. 128 and adjacent to North Shore Music Theatre. Together, the two campuses are home to more than 600 businesses, including more than 100 healthcare practices, corporate headquarters, software and engineering firms, research laboratories, and nonprofits. 

Northshore Phoenix High School was established in 2006 with the support of Northshore Education Consortium, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The school combines individualized academic programming, substance use recovery support, and mental health services within a trauma-informed framework.