Have You Seen Park Lately?

BRIGHT AND SUNNY CLASSROOMS FOR EARLY EDUCATION (Phase I)

Park transformed the early childhood education classrooms, creating bright and cheerful spaces for our Kindergarten and Grade 1 students. These classrooms spill out into the Race Around for indoor activities, and out onto the Discovery Playground, full of hands-on learning-throughplay opportunities.

NEW ART AND SCIENCE CLASSROOMS (Phase II)

Reclaiming the former Woodshop space and the adjoining science classrooms, and opening up walls, windows, and skylights made way for a sunny new art room with an adjacent kiln space, and for three brand-new, state-ofthe-art, developmentally-appropriate science classrooms. The crisp, bright corridor that takes you there provides ample room to display student art as well as evidence of scientific investigations underway!

THE MAKER WING (Phase I & II)

SPARK’s Phase I made possible the creation of our phenomenal Makerspace, which quickly became a magnet for student activity—and SPARK’s Phase II completed the vision for the Maker Wing with an extraordinary new space for Park’s Woodshop! The beloved Woodshop program now benefits from natural light, direct access to the outdoors, a safe and convenient space for the heavy saws and other prep tools that can’t live where student hands can reach them, and perhaps most exciting, the endless possibilities for partnership with the Makerspace the new location makes possible.

NEW UPPER DIVISION LEARNING AND COLLABORATION SPACES (Phase II)

In another great example of creative re-envisioning of older spaces, Park replaced brick walls with walls of windows and created sunny, spacious classrooms and collaboration space for Grade 8 on Park’s lower level, and refreshed and brightened classrooms for Grades 6 and 7, while adding collaboration and gathering spaces for these grades as well. Now, each Upper Division grade has an inviting home.

ADVENTURE EQUIPMENT AND TURF FIELD (Phase I & II)

First, we expanded our physical education program offerings with the addition of climbing walls in each of Park’s gymnasiums—a smaller one for younger students, and a floor-toceiling installation for students ready for more challenge. Phase II brought the exciting new outdoor adventure course with high and low elements, completed in Spring 2023, and the awesome new turf field, now supporting PreK–8 physical education year round, as well as fall and spring team sports. We even refreshed the PreK play area and installed new swings!

Even as Park completed these important projects, The SPARK Campaign has also funded essential support for diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and initiatives, while also expanding the School’s commitment to equity with support for educational testing for students with learning differences whose families would otherwise not be able to afford it.

It’s a whole new era at The Park School. Come check it out!

We are grateful to Peter Barkan ’86, who has served as chair of the Buildings & Grounds Committee of Park's Board of Trustees throughout Phase I & II of The SPARK Campaign. His partnership has been integral to all that Park has accomplished. In addition, our deepest thanks to our architecture and construction partners, Utile Architecture and Planning, and J. Calnan & Associates.