MAVA Members,
We are pleased to share this wonderful piece concerning a new option for students to study veterinary science in a brand-new building created for the program.
MAVA extends its congratulations!!!
David
Greater Lowell Tech unveils building for new veterinary science program
Greater Lowell Technical High School freshmen Rafaella Almeida, left, and Isabella Kimmel demonstrate a learning tool for the school’s new veterinary science program June 12, 2026. On the large horizontal screen, the students can get a granular view of the anatomy of a number of different animals one might be expected to treat as a veterinarian. (Peter Currier/Lowell Sun)
By Peter Currier | Lowell Sun
TYNGSBORO — Greater Lowell Technical High School is adding to its nearly two-dozen technical programs with a new option for students to study veterinary science in a brand-new building created for the program.
Students in the program will experience hands-on learning about the care and treatment of animals of many shapes and sizes starting this fall. Inside the new building is a classroom alongside many amenities one might expect to see when they step inside a typical veterinary facility, including treatment rooms, grooming stations and an X-ray machine for animals.
Superintendent-Director Jill Davis said the new program and facility “reflects our continued commitment to expanding high-quality career technical education opportunities for our students.”
“What makes this program especially meaningful is that it was truly the result of student voice and choice. We listened carefully to the interests and aspirations of our students, and from those conversations the vision of this program was born,” said Davis. “Our veterinary science program will provide students with opportunities to explore animal care, veterinary medicine and related career pathways through hands-on real world learning experiences.”
Davis credited the efforts of Lowell Mayor Erik Gitschier, who also serves as the school’s director of plant services. When the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education rejected the school’s originally proposed location for the program on campus inside the main building, Davis said Gitschier worked with an architect “to redesign and develop the building plans within an expedient time frame.”
The creation of the building was a collaborative effort that involved students from several of the school’s other technical programs, with some of them painting the building and designing the program logo, and others doing the electrical work and masonry outside.
“This project is a true example of authentic hands-on learning and collaboration across multiple technical programs, and it represents the very best of career technical education and Greater Lowell Technical High School,” said Davis.
Gitschier, himself a former Greater Lowell Tech student, echoed Davis on the importance of the collaboration of different trades.
“In the trades you are going to have to work across the aisles with different trades, whether it is the carpenters, the plumbers, the HVAC and painters and everyone else who came into this building. They did it with a smile and they were ready to get it done for all of you,” said Gitschier to the students.
Later Davis said the hope is to eventually partner with a local veterinary clinic to help the program become a clinic of its own.
“At some point we might welcome some animals to our staff here for our students to practice on,” said Davis.
Looking forward, Davis and her eventual successor, Assistant Superintendent-Principal Michael Barton, said the next plans for expansion for Greater Lowell Tech will be to its already existing HVAC program.
“It is one of our most desirable programs, so it makes sense to expand it and give the kids more opportunities to participate in it,” said Barton.
Greater Lowell Tech’s CTE Allied Health and Communications Chair Valerie Branco said the new program was built “around passion and belief that the students deserve opportunities that connect directly with their goals and interests.”
“The clinic now gives the students a place where learning becomes more real, where they can grow their knowledge, build the confidence and begin to experience what it means to work in a professional setting,” said Branco.
Greater Lowell Tech Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Greg Haas said the program is unique in that it is the first and only Chapter 74 veterinary science program in the entire state.
“Being able to start this program reflects the way Greater Lowell continues to design programs that respond directly to student interest and emerging opportunities in career fields,” said Haas.
Among the first students to participate in the program is Annabel Brown, who said she had always wanted to be a veterinarian and has a lot of experience around animals with a busy household of pets including four dogs and five rats, in addition to two rats she is currently fostering.
“When I saw that I could be one at my own high school and really just get the opportunity to learn so much so in my future I can be a vet,” said Brown.
Camilla Nzaramba, another of the first freshman students in the program, said she has not had much experience with pets but that she sought to join the program anyway.
“I wasn’t around animals much, but I did always love them, so I wanted to explore them and be around them more and figure out how they work in this shop,” said Nzaramba.
Chapter 74 Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education
LEARNING THAT WORKS FOR MASSACHUSETTS
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira