Upper School Renovation

This has been an exciting year for the Upper School watching the changes to the fields and buildings as part of an overall Maher Avenue campus renovation.  Below you will find a description of each phase of the work along with some progress pictures. 

There are four quite separate aspects of the Upper School renovation.  The first is the outdoor work laying the preparation for the reorienting of the school entrance.  The small field directly behind the old Middle School building, now the language and social studies floor, was converted into a parking lot.  The lot on Maher Avenue will become a grassy entrance bordered by a stone wall.  The old baseball field was totally dug up to improve drainage and is again a large grass field ready for boys to toss a Frisbee.

The second aspect of the renovation is the conversion of Burke Gym into a performing arts center with an auditorium, back stage scene shop, costume department, art classrooms and music/choral practice rooms.  While work has been going on for months the interior space of the gym still has that gym-like feel as seating and stage are not yet in place. 

The emptied art and music rooms will be converted over this summer into additional science classrooms.  This along with a renovation of all existing Upper School classrooms, the library and student center will update the look and feel of the existing space.  The library, for example, will have an all glass wall facing Maher Avenue spilling light into the current space.

The last and definitely dramatic change is the new atrium entry with glass connectors to each of the buildings and the varying levels.  This space is basically where Durkin Auditorium used to be.  Durkin was torn down last summer in the first phase of the work. As the Maher Ave campus has existed there are multiple levels, some only half a flight above others and not handicap accessible.  The new glass walkways will enable movement from one building to the next, without the need to go outside.  An elevator will also make the building handicapped accessible.