As the school honors the past 100 years since its inception, Raiders are turning their focus to building the future. This month, the Upper School will break ground on the STEM Commons, a 32,000-square-foot facility housing 16 new classrooms and laboratories erected to propel the school’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs—the disciplines of the hereafter.
Despite a backdrop of possible clamor, debris and general construction snafus, summer classes will continue as scheduled. Students and faculty continue to focus on educational acceleration, seeking to align with the school’s core values of growing into greatness, feeding your curiosity and seeking the challenge.
“I’m worried about disruptions that could come with construction, like air conditioning not working, parking issues, and navigating to class,” sophomore Alexandra Naumovich, who will be taking Precalculus Advanced over the summer, said. “That said, I remain focused on moving ahead in math in the optimal learning environment because I wouldn’t learn as well online or in another class format.”
Though some students remain preoccupied with the possible disorder of erecting a new facility, sophomore John O’Brien is more concerned about the constrictions of distilling a year-long course into just a few months.
“Summer courses are faster and more involved than their full-year counterparts due to the timeframe,” O’Brien said. “I am concerned about my summer grade counting in my GPA, and possibly starting at a disadvantage since there will be limited time to cover everything.”
Yet strategic adjustments to class locations and walking paths aim to safeguard Raiders’ safety and focus during summer school remain primary pillars of this year’s summer programming. Scrupulously coordinated by Academic Resource Program Chair and Summer Studies Director Alina Gonzalez, the updated course layout endeavors to minimize disruption while maximizing the construction’s success.
“We have a very clear plan for conducting summer studies successfully while mitigating disturbances; everything is coordinated,” Gonzalez said. “I think the students who are engaging in summer courses care deeply about taking advanced classes and bettering themselves academically, so I anticipate that focus will prevail for everyone involved.”
