
USA Fencing picks Stow MA for national training center. What else is coming
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USA Fencing picks Stow MA for national training center. What else is coming
Masters Academy International is set to break ground at a former site housing Bose offices. The $83 million project will feature learning hubs, dormitories and athletic fields. Tuition is valued at $72,000 for boarding students and $54,00 for day students. The school will offer training in hockey, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, basketball, fencing and e-sports, with more to follow. The U.S. National Training Center for the Olympic & Paralympic sport of fencing will also be at the new school. five years from now, Masters Academy International aims to enroll up to 700 students within five years, with tuition at $70,000 to $80,000 per student. The new school will also offer non-playing majors like sports medicine, sports psychology, sports marketing and sports marketing, CEO Richard Odell said. It will be the first national governing body to unveil a comprehensive academy model and to feature their national training center in Masaschusetts.
The $83 million project will feature learning hubs, dormitories and athletic fields, offering training in various sports and non-playing majors like sports medicine and marketing.
MAI, partnering with Cognita Schools, aims to enroll up to 700 students within five years, with tuition at $72,000 for boarding and $54,000 for day students.
STOW — MetroWest will soon become home for the U.S. National Training Center for the Olympic & Paralympic sport of fencing, along with a multi-use sports and education complex that will educate and train young athletes.
Masters Academy International is set to break ground at a former site housing Bose offices, at 688 Great Road (Route 117) in Stow. Officials from the town and Masters Academy International appeared Thursday, July 31, inside the closed offices to share information about the new school.
“This significant development not only elevates our town’s profile, but also brings with it a legacy of honor, discipline and sporting excellence that will inspire generations to come,” said Town Administrator Denise Dembkoski, adding that the “realization of this project would not have been possible without the steadfast support and cooperation of our state partners.”
Bose announced it would leave Stow, a Middlesex County community of about 7,000 residents, in 2021 to consolidate its employees at its Framingham headquarters. During a special Town Meeting later that year, residents approved a zoning change to allow for the private board school.
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According to Dembkoski, state Rep. Kate Hogan, D-Stow, led the state’s involvement with the project, along with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. The town administrator also stated that the school will receive $2.85 million in tax credits through a program that offers such credits for job creation committments.
“The $2.85 million in tax credits sends a clear message: Massachusetts is serious about supporting ventures that create jobs and showcases our state on the international stage,” Select Board Chair Megan Birch-McMichael read from a statement on behalf of the Hogan.
$83M investment to convert office park to elite sports complex
Approximately $83 million will be invested to redevelop the site into a multi-sports and education complex, along with becoming home for the nation’s first national training center for Olympic and Paralympic fencing.
USA Fencing will become the first national governing body to unveil a comprehensive academy model and to feature their national training center in Masaschusetts.
On top of fencing, Masters Academy International — co-founded by Peter and Chris Masters, former collegiate hockey players and co-owners of the Marlborough-based Boston Junior Bruins — is set to renovate the more than 400,000-square-foot building into learning hubs and student dormitories. Turf soccer, lacrosse and baseball fields are planned for the 40 acres of cleared, flat land.
MAI is partnering with London-based Cognita Schools to bring global education expertise to the new school.
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Richard Odell, CEO of MAI, said classes are expected to begin at the start of the 2026-27 school year by opening half of the building. Once the school outgrows it, the other half will be renovated.
Initially, MAI will offer training in hockey, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, basketball, fencing and e-sports, with more to follow. Tuition is valued at $72,000 for boarding students and $54,000 for day students, according to Odell.
He’s looking at teaching up to 700 students within five years.
“What MAI is about is capitalizing on the interest and the passion of young students, whether they’re middle schoolers or high schoolers, post-grads, whether they are from Massachusetts, around the country or around the world, we are here to give them an opportunity to be in a space where they can grow in every aspect of their life,” Odell said.
Along with students “majoring” in sports, the school will also offer non-playing majors, allowing students to study sports medicine, sports psychology, sports marketing and sports broadcasting, beginning in ninth grade.
Odell said demolition is planned for next month, with renovations set to begin this fall.
How else Stow will benefit from redevelopment
Birch-McMichael said town officials are excited the complex is coming to Stow.
“The vision of the MAI team to bring an elite sporting academy to the Northeast is only going to be amplified with the inclusion of USA Fencing as they train future Olympians in our backyard,” she said.
The Select Board chair added that along with offering weeklong sports camp scholarships to students from Stow, MAI has also committed to contributing to the town’s sidewalk fund and provide tuition for a non-boarding Stow student each year.
“We believe this project will serve as a catalyst for economic development in Stow and the surrounding region,” Birch-McMichael said. “Visiting families will need lodging, dining options, students will require access to everyday resources, and spectators attending events will see places to shop and eat.”
Dembkoski, who has served as Stow’s town administrator for nearly five years, noted that other proposed projects “would have demolished these buildings, sending tons of materials to our landfills.”
“But Peter and Chris (Masters) recognized the potential of this property, and embraced the economic and environmental advantages of adapted reuse,” Dembkoski said, reading from a prepared statement.