As The Benjamin School continues to grow in both student and faculty numbers, there have been various instances when more classroom, lab, and leisure space has been needed. This need is about to be met with the addition of two new buildings on the Upper School campus. While construction has not begun quite yet, both plans and designs have been cre-
ated for these new spaces.
The first of the new building is purely for academic use. It will host a variety of new spaces, tools, and equipment that will aid in both the learning and teaching occurring at Benjamin.
“One is called the innovation center and that’s going to be a classroom building. That classroom building is going to have engineering, robotics, graphic art design, Ms. Szeliga’s classes, AP Bio, and a computer lab,” shared Mrs Leslie Downs, the School’s Chief Financial and Operating Officer.
The other planned building will be used as a gathering, studying, and eating center for students and teach-
ers alike. Mrs. Downs explains the role of this new building, “The second building is going to be a student union.
So, downstairs there’s going to be a dining hall with indoor and outdoor seating. It’s going to have a big kitchen to prepare food and some storage in the back. Upstairs there are going to be two standard-sized classrooms, a very large classroom, and a meeting room that will open up onto a balcony that overlooks the lake.” Upper School faculty members are especially excited for this new space, as it opens many new teaching opportunities and ways to make their classes more unique.
“I’m not personally moving over there but I’m certainly super excited for Mrs. Szeliga and Mrs. Ballard to have their own spaces with all of the latest equipment. We’ve designed it specifically so that it will be an excellent space to both learn in class and also do all sorts of really fun labs,”expressed Dr. James Haley,
Upper School Science Department Chair. Overall, these new additions to the campus will make both the social and academic experience of the school even better than before.
“Right now you guys are so tight on space. Teachers have to share classrooms and you have to have study halls in Benjamin Hall. It’s going to give you guys the much needed space that you really need so that you can have all of the classes that you want to take. The meeting room up stairs is going to be great because we can have all sorts of events there. The student union will be really good because everyone can eat together andwe can have special events there,” said Mrs. Downs.
The entire Benjamin community is in for two exciting and incredibly useful new spaces in the upcoming years, as they will hopefully prove to live up to their plans.
Construction should begin sometime this summer.
