A Town Put a Senior Center in Its High School, Offering a Model for an Aging Nation.

Education Week

By Caitlynn Peetz — March 13, 2023

When crowded classrooms pushed Swampscott, Mass., to consider building a new high school, some innovative thinkers saw another opportunity.

The town’s senior center was ailing, and the only handicap accessible area was in the basement. But because there’s limited land available in Swampscott, building a new, standalone senior center was a tough sell.

Still, community leaders recognized the need. The town’s elderly population was growing, matching (and expected to eventually surpass) the number of school-age children. Now, more than 15 years later, the town has both the high school and senior center it long needed, with the two located together on a single plot of land.