Building Our Future Today is about transforming what it means, and can mean, to be a member of the Tilton community. It’s about possibilities, experiences, and growth. In this update, you’ll see how recent capital projects have impacted our students and faculty and how our continued progress will position Tilton School to offer a model of independent school teaching and learning that is innovative, inclusive, and influential.
“We’re honoring the past and using that knowledge to forge ahead,” says Head of School Kate Saunders P ’17, ’21. On the heels of landmark exterior renovations during the summer of 2021 — made possible thanks to support from the Masiello Family Foundation and the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) — Tilton received an additional capital gift from the Masiello Family Foundation to begin work on the interior of the Mansion. What’s in store? Restorations throughout the building, new classroom spaces for the arts and social sciences, a gallery for students and visiting artists, and so much more!
Over 150,000 square feet of facilities renovations
Over 1,000 hours of collaboration with students and alumni
Over 30 community partnerships to create real-world learning opportunities
Over 25 new events to showcase student projects and unique learning experiences
With our distinctive model of teaching and learning and unique location, the future of education at Tilton School will extend far beyond campus. As the Mansion project develops, every choice we make will have the community in mind. At times this will be our school community, with the Masiello Family Terrace as a place to gather and celebrate, or the new art gallery as a place to showcase student work and support regional and national artists. It’s also about establishing meaningful connections within the surrounding community to enrich both the educational experience at Tilton and the development of our hometown. Partners like the Tilton Historical Society, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, and the local chamber of commerce will help us establish the Mansion as a centerpiece of the community that people want to visit.
The Back 40 is our blank canvas. Thanks to the new Hamilton Family Pavilion, we’re bringing outdoor programming to life, from disc golf to morning yoga to Mr. Veilleux’s Biology class.
Our construction partners — Simons Architects, Samyn-D’Elia Architects, and Milestone
Construction — have been great resources for students to learn about large-scale projects and how construction management is changing. As we consider how to transform our campus spaces, we recently completed a land-use study of the Back 40 with Simons Architects. Inside our living laboratory at Tilton, Engineering students will have the opportunity to participate in brainstorming sessions that help drive future initiatives.
Making smart decisions, for today and tomorrow, is a primary focus of the Knowles project and this commitment will make up the very fiber of the newly renovated space. One example? Old carpet will be replaced with ecofriendly Kinetex carpet tiles. Each box of this new flooring material reuses the equivalent of 492 plastic water bottles. Stacked up across the entire project, choices like this will help make Tilton a green leader among independent schools.
Tilton alumni like Bob Black understand that your dorm room isn’t just a place to keep your books and lay your head down at night. For Black, his room in Knowles was where he tackled challenges and laid the foundation for a lifetime of success. “My mother, Rita Bing Black, was a single, divorced mom, who managed, while running her own business, to put me through prep school and college,” he says. “It was a severe financial strain for many years.” As a student who struggled with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a world that “knew nothing about ADD or ADHD,” the conviction of his mother to support his education at Tilton put him in a place to succeed. “It was a scary time for all of us, but the rest of my life has proved the faculty and my mother right.”
That’s why Black has pledged his support to the Knowles project. His gift ensures that Knowles will guide students on their way to success for years to come.
To learn more about naming opportunities — including individual dorm rooms — in the soon-to-be fully-renovated Knowles Hall, email advancement@tiltonschool.org.
This year alone, the new Amphitheatre hosted our first outdoor School Meetings, an Alumni Weekend dance party, a community concert series, and so much more. The possibilities are endless!
“When we run School Meetings in the Amphitheatre it creates this excitement — I can see it in everyone’s eyes. We all pack into the seats and it brings us together.”
—Kai Tsoar ’23, Student Body President
We gather here for more than meal time. Whether it’s a World Cup watch party, a club meeting in the new Beaumont Conference Room, or a school-wide event, the Masiello Dining Commons is at the heart of the Tilton residential experience. Recently, our community came together for a school-wide day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to package more than 32,000 meals for New Hampshire communities in need. Partnered with Meals of Hope, a nonprofit organization created to assist food-insecure communities across the country, students and faculty utilized one of our newest spaces to make a real impact.
SAME PLACE, NEW SPACE! BEAUMONT CONFERENCE ROOM
SAGE STANDARDS: You can feel good knowing that whenever possible, students will enjoy:
Cage-free and Certified Humane® shell eggs.
No Antibiotics Ever chicken.
House-roasted and nitrate-free sourced deli meats.
Trans fat-free oils and MSG-free seasonings.
Antibiotic and hormone-free milk.