For more than a decade the City of Newport, RI struggled with finding an appropriate solution to its middle school housing problem. Although there was historic and sentimental value attached to the existing school, particularly the 1893 Townsend building, it was extremely overcrowded and inadequate for the city's nationally recognized middle school program.

HMFH's solution, overwhelmingly approved by voters, called for demolition of all but the Townsend building, which was restored and incorporated into a new three-story school for 720 students. Designed to enhance and support a team-centered middle school curriculum, the new facility accommodates three 80-student clusters per grade in a classroom wing behind the preserved Townsend building, which now houses administration on the ground floor and, above it, a double-height library. The rhythm of the Broadway façade is retained with the cafeteria and gymnasium addition mimicking a separate building along the street.