Monday, February 24, was an historic day for Waring School as we broke ground on our new school building. The journey up to this point has been a community effort, from concept through design, and is worth celebrating. We would never have reached this stage without the generosity of our community, the philanthropy of some 375 donors, and the participation of our students, faculty, trustees, and many others.
It is a pleasure to share with you, the Salem News article, that made Tuesday, February 25’s front page, as well as news coverage by the Beverly Citizen, some photos of the event, and a complete video of the ceremony.
The new School Building was conceptualized based on Waring’s philosophy’s of community, mixed age-experiences, relational learning, nooks and crannies and cubbies, a school-wide commitment to sustainability and accessibility, and – yes – the centerpiece of Waring’s day-to-day experience: our All-School Meeting. The new meeting space will soar centrally over Waring’s current entry courtyard, a space encased in north-facing glass, projecting out toward the quad and beyond. This building’s interiors are thoughtfully laid out – with beautiful light and space and meandering hallways that will twist through our woods, bridging lower and upper campus.
The building’s architects from Op/l are proven experts in Passive House sustainability – a cutting edge, European model that eliminates upwards of 90% of a building’s energy expenditure. Thanks to their work in close tandem with L.D. Russo, our contractor, we are confident we will achieve the Passive House benchmark, positioning Waring to be the first independent school in Massachusetts to certify a Passive House building. We are excited to see how students in our Science, Engineering, and Technology classes will put this building to use as a test case in energy models and calculators.
I want to thank those who attended Monday’s momentous groundbreaking. We were honored by the impressive turnout as well as by the presence of some special guests, including Mayor Mike Cahill, State Representative Jerry Parisella, the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce, Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, current and former Trustees, OP/L Architects, L.D. Russo Construction, and Headmaster Emeritus Peter Smick and his wife Allegra Smick.
Thank you for joining me in celebrating this historic moment for our school!
