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New Hampton School to Dedicate $9 million dollar Math and Science Building
New Hampton School will dedicate its new math and science building on Friday, October 30, at 10:30 am in a ceremony that also will kick off the school's capital campaign, GO BEYOND: The Campaign for New Hampton School.
The Pilalas Center for Math and Science, a state-of-the-art facility, opened its doors to students in Septmeber. A 28,000-sqaure-foot space featuring 14 classrooms, seven labs, an environmental suite, and a computer lab (see attached photos), the building is the product of a $5 million-dollar seed gift from Jason ’58 and Rena Pilalas.
"It is a tangible symbol of our commitment to our teaching faculty and two critically important disciplines,” Head of School Andrew Menke said. "If you think about 21st-century skills and 21st-century schools, math and sciences have to play a vital role in the lives of our students."
The construction of the building is part of five-year strategic plan that New Hampton School laid out in 2008.
“It gives us an academic locus,” Director of Studies Jennifer Berry ’83 said. “It really prioritizes academics and it’s just the beginning. As our curriculum continues to become more exciting, our facilities need to continue to develop.”
The building seamlessly fits into the center of NHS's academic row, and gives a nod to tradition while creating a new dimension to the center of the New Hampton School campus. It is as welcoming from the athletics fields as it is from Main Street.
“I think what is fabulous is that it connects the front of the campus with the back of the campus,” Mrs. Berry said. “It brings the outside to the inside in a way. It has two fronts and that’s exciting.”
The opening of the building coincides with the addition of 12 new courses to the curriculum, including three science courses: Science and Sustainability, AP Chemistry, and Projects in Sustainability.
Still, Mrs. Berry believes that although The Pilalas Center emboldens the faculty and provides a literal foundation for learning, New Hampton School continues to focus on teaching the resume skills that will prepare students for college and continued learning.
"We can teach biology the way it’s been taught the last 200 years or we can teach forensic biology—which has more glamor to it and kids are excited about it because of CSI,” Mrs. Berry said. “But if you don’t teach durable skills you’re not teaching them anything. As we try to teach students twenty-first-century content, we continue to have to look at what the twenty-first-century skills are and how they’re all woven together."
New Hampton School's mission to shape global citizens is evident in numerous initiatives including a recent cultural exchange agreement with the Shibei High School in Wuxi, China, and the school's candicacy for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. The School will host representatives from the IB Diploma Program Committee in December. It will be the final step in the process to become the first IB boarding school in New England.
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"It is a tangible symbol of our commitment to our teaching faculty and two critically important disciplines,” Head of School Andrew Menke said. "If you think about 21st-century skills and 21st-century schools, math and sciences have to play a vital role in the lives of our students."
The construction of the building is part of five-year strategic plan that New Hampton School laid out in 2008.
“It gives us an academic locus,” Director of Studies Jennifer Berry ’83 said. “It really prioritizes academics and it’s just the beginning. As our curriculum continues to become more exciting, our facilities need to continue to develop.”
The building seamlessly fits into the center of NHS's academic row, and gives a nod to tradition while creating a new dimension to the center of the New Hampton School campus. It is as welcoming from the athletics fields as it is from Main Street.
“I think what is fabulous is that it connects the front of the campus with the back of the campus,” Mrs. Berry said. “It brings the outside to the inside in a way. It has two fronts and that’s exciting.”
The opening of the building coincides with the addition of 12 new courses to the curriculum, including three science courses: Science and Sustainability, AP Chemistry, and Projects in Sustainability.
Still, Mrs. Berry believes that although The Pilalas Center emboldens the faculty and provides a literal foundation for learning, New Hampton School continues to focus on teaching the resume skills that will prepare students for college and continued learning.
"We can teach biology the way it’s been taught the last 200 years or we can teach forensic biology—which has more glamor to it and kids are excited about it because of CSI,” Mrs. Berry said. “But if you don’t teach durable skills you’re not teaching them anything. As we try to teach students twenty-first-century content, we continue to have to look at what the twenty-first-century skills are and how they’re all woven together."
New Hampton School's mission to shape global citizens is evident in numerous initiatives including a recent cultural exchange agreement with the Shibei High School in Wuxi, China, and the school's candicacy for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. The School will host representatives from the IB Diploma Program Committee in December. It will be the final step in the process to become the first IB boarding school in New England.
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